Betelgeuse's boiling surface could be so riotous that it generates an illusion of fast rotation.
Whenever something happens with Betelgeuse, speculations about it exploding as a supernova proliferate. But when will the explosion happen?
The star will go supernova at the end of its life, but that’s not projected to happen for tens of thousands of years or so. However, the great dimming of Betelgeuse continues.
Betelgeuse in constellation of Orion is looking markedly faint, the faintest it has been for the 21st century. Betelgeuse is a nearby supernova candidate. Its transformation into Type II supernova could occur 100,000 years from now… or tonight.
Recently, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array gave us an amazing view of Betelgeuse, - the star that is destined to go supernova at anytime in the next few thousand years or so.
Using the VISIR instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have imaged a complex and bright nebula around the supergiant star Betelgeuse in greater detail than ever before. This structure, which resembles flames emanating from the star, is formed as the behemoth sheds its material into space.
