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The bizarre dimming of bright star Betelgeuse caused by giant stellar eruption
space,com ^ | 13 August 2020 | Mike Wall

Posted on 08/14/2020 10:18:51 AM PDT by BenLurkin

In the fall of 2019, Betelgeuse began dimming significantly, losing about two-thirds of its brightness by February. This dramatic dip spurred speculation that the star's demise may have been imminent — perhaps just weeks away.

But the dramatic sky show didn't happen: Betelgeuse powered through the dimming episode and returned to its normal brightness by May of this year. The recovery sparked a new round of speculation, this time about the dimming's cause. Some scientists attributed the doldrums to a light-blocking dust cloud, for example, whereas others said big starspots on Betelgeuse's surface were likely to blame.

A new study bolsters the dust hypothesis, but adds a twist — Betelgeuse itself apparently coughed up the cloud.

The researchers studied the star in 2019 and 2020 using NASA's iconic Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble's observations from September through November 2019 revealed huge amounts of material moving from Betelgeuse's surface to its outer atmosphere at tremendous speeds — about 200,000 mph (320,000 km/h).

During this three-month-long outburst, Betelgeuse lost about twice as much material to space from its southern hemisphere as it normally does, study team members said.

This superhot plasma, or electrically charged gas, cooled considerably after traveling millions of miles from Betelgeuse, condensing into dust grains and forming a light-blocking cloud...

"This material was two to four times more luminous than the star's normal brightness," lead author Andrea Dupree, associate director of the Center for Astrophysics run by Harvard University and the Smithsonian Institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said in a statement.

"And then, about a month later, the south part of Betelgeuse dimmed conspicuously as the star grew fainter," Dupree said. "We think it is possible that a dark cloud resulted from the outflow that Hubble detected."

(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; astronomy; betelgeuse; catastrophism; science; stringtheory
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21 posted on 08/14/2020 10:47:12 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: 75thOVI; Abathar; agrace; aimhigh; Alice in Wonderland; AnalogReigns; AndrewC; aragorn; ...
Thanks BenLurkin. Fun comments is right. :^)



The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes: Flood, Fire, and Famine in the History of Civilization
The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes:
Flood, Fire, and Famine
in the History of Civilization

by Richard Firestone,
Allen West, and
Simon Warwick-Smith


22 posted on 08/14/2020 10:47:27 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Seruzawa

And when it does blow for a year it’ll be at least as bright as the moon. The resultant nebula will fill the sky and we’ll eventually be in that nebula. Though that will take thousands of years. I love this stuff.


23 posted on 08/14/2020 10:49:28 AM PDT by Seruzawa (TANSTAAFL!)
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To: Red Badger
LAST TIME I SAW A MOUTH LIKE THAT IT HAD A HOOK IN IT!...................

With eyes on the side of the head too?

24 posted on 08/14/2020 11:02:45 AM PDT by Pollard (whatever)
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To: BenLurkin

This could explain the dark cloud over Seattle and Portland...


25 posted on 08/14/2020 11:02:48 AM PDT by SuperLuminal (Where is Sam Adams now that we desperately need him)
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To: Red Badger

I believe Betelgeuse is the largest star in the universe.


26 posted on 08/14/2020 11:03:20 AM PDT by jmacusa (If we're all equal how is diversity our strength?)
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To: BenLurkin

Swarm of Locusts?


27 posted on 08/14/2020 11:04:07 AM PDT by Kickass Conservative (Kill a Commie for your Mommy.)
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To: fieldmarshaldj

The wide displacement of this woman’s eyes suggests to me she’s a Fetal Alcohol Syndrome adult.


28 posted on 08/14/2020 11:04:51 AM PDT by jmacusa (If we're all equal how is diversity our strength?)
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To: jmacusa

Well, it is the largest star in the universe in our part of the Universe! Everything else is irrelevant!......................


29 posted on 08/14/2020 11:05:18 AM PDT by Red Badger (Jesus said "There is no marriage in Heaven." ... That's why they call it Heaven............)
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To: Pollard

Nah, it was a Bigmouth Bass, not a Flounder!...............


30 posted on 08/14/2020 11:06:21 AM PDT by Red Badger (Jesus said "There is no marriage in Heaven." ... That's why they call it Heaven............)
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To: Leaning Right

“> They’re guessing, of course... <

They might have to guess, but not me. This is definitely a result of Global Warming. So we must increase our efforts to control every aspect of everyone’s life.”

YEP. Gonna have to raise taxes too. /Dem

LOL


31 posted on 08/14/2020 11:08:01 AM PDT by GaltMeister (All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.)
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To: BenLurkin

Or it’s a low grade “micronova” which the sun may be due for. Not enough to wipe out life on earth (if the sun) but enough to alter civilization.


32 posted on 08/14/2020 11:11:04 AM PDT by cicero2k
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To: jmacusa

“The largest known star in the universe is UY Scuti, a hypergiant with a radius around 1,700 times larger than the sun. And it’s not alone in dwarfing Earth’s dominant star”

Source: https://the-biggest.net/animals/what-is-the-largest-known-star.html


33 posted on 08/14/2020 11:14:26 AM PDT by Kickass Conservative (Kill a Commie for your Mommy.)
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To: Seruzawa

It shows as a disk in a regular scope too, just a very very small one. It also doesn’t twinkle much for the same reasons.

Aldebaran also shows as a disc too, but, it is close enough that when it is occluded by the Moon, it doesn’t just disappear like most stars, it fades as the disc is covered.

BIG stars!


34 posted on 08/14/2020 11:19:02 AM PDT by Conan the Librarian (The Best in Life is to crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and the Dewey Decimal System)
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To: cicero2k

We know so little about the inner workings of stars (we have good guesses, but, that’s it) that we really need to start planning on seeding the galaxy pretty quick.

For example. Delta Scorpius was a perfectly normal star up until 2000, then it brightened considerably almost overnight and has stayed much brighter than it used to be. If the Sun did something like that, life may go on, but, not for very long, here on Earth.

Space is a dangerous place.


35 posted on 08/14/2020 11:25:46 AM PDT by Conan the Librarian (The Best in Life is to crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and the Dewey Decimal System)
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To: fieldmarshaldj
That looks like something from The Shadow Over Innsmouth (H.P Lovecraft)...
36 posted on 08/14/2020 11:31:48 AM PDT by jeffc (I'm a Patriot, and the media are our enemy)
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To: Kickass Conservative
Deneb in Cygnus is also an extremely massive star.
37 posted on 08/14/2020 11:36:03 AM PDT by jmacusa (If we're all equal how is diversity our strength?)
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To: Red Badger

Not really. Check out Deneb in Cygnus.


38 posted on 08/14/2020 11:36:42 AM PDT by jmacusa (If we're all equal how is diversity our strength?)
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To: jmacusa

It’s 2600 light years away!......


39 posted on 08/14/2020 11:41:54 AM PDT by Red Badger (Jesus said "There is no marriage in Heaven." ... That's why they call it Heaven............)
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To: Kickass Conservative

40 posted on 08/14/2020 11:43:59 AM PDT by Jagermonster ("God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him." 1 John 4:16, NKJV.)
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