BETELGEUSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Betelgeuse mean? 

• BETELGEUSE (noun)
  The noun BETELGEUSE has 1 sense:

1. the second brightest star in Orion

  Familiarity information: BETELGEUSE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BETELGEUSE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The second brightest star in Orion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

Alpha Orionis; Betelgeuse

Instance hypernyms:

supergiant (an extremely bright star of very large diameter and low density)

Holonyms ("Betelgeuse" is a member of...):

Hunter; Orion (a constellation on the equator to the east of Taurus; contains Betelgeuse and Rigel)

 Context examples 

“ESO's Paranal Observatory is one of few facilities capable of imaging the surface of Betelgeuse,” he says.

(ESO Telescope Sees Surface of Dim Betelgeuse, ESO)

Instruments on ESO’s VLT allow observations from the visible to the mid-infrared, meaning astronomers can see both the surface of Betelgeuse and the material around it.

(ESO Telescope Sees Surface of Dim Betelgeuse, ESO)

Another new image, obtained with the VISIR instrument on the VLT, shows the infrared light being emitted by the dust surrounding Betelgeuse in December 2019.

(ESO Telescope Sees Surface of Dim Betelgeuse, ESO)

“Over their lifetimes, red supergiants like Betelgeuse create and eject vast amounts of material even before they explode as supernovae.”

(ESO Telescope Sees Surface of Dim Betelgeuse, ESO)

Like all red supergiants, Betelgeuse will one day go supernova, but astronomers don’t think this is happening now.

(ESO Telescope Sees Surface of Dim Betelgeuse, ESO)

Many astronomy enthusiasts wondered if Betelgeuse’s dimming meant it was about to explode.

(ESO Telescope Sees Surface of Dim Betelgeuse, ESO)

At the time of writing Betelgeuse is at about 36% of its normal brightness, a change noticeable even to the naked eye.

(ESO Telescope Sees Surface of Dim Betelgeuse, ESO)

Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have captured the unprecedented dimming of Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star in the constellation of Orion.

(ESO Telescope Sees Surface of Dim Betelgeuse, ESO)

Among the first observations to come out of their campaign is a stunning new image of Betelgeuse’s surface, taken late last year with the SPHERE instrument.

(ESO Telescope Sees Surface of Dim Betelgeuse, ESO)

The team also happened to observe the star with SPHERE in January 2019, before it began to dim, giving us a before-and-after picture of Betelgeuse.

(ESO Telescope Sees Surface of Dim Betelgeuse, ESO)