Astronomers Observe Companion Star Orbiting Stellar Giant Betelgeuse
Astronomers have confirmed that the red supergiant star Betelgeuse is part of a binary system, orbiting with a smaller companion star. This discovery was made using the Very Large Telescope in Chile.
Why it matters
Confirming the existence of a companion star helps scientists better understand the evolution and potential explosive future of one of the sky's most famous stars.
Betelgeuse is a superstar among the stars — one of the brightest in the night sky, a massive red supergiant in the constellation Orion that sometimes brightens and dims, and adds to its allure with the fact that it may be on the brink of exploding.
It has been observed for millennia, but astronomers have now nailed down a crucial detail about this star: Betelgeuse is not alone. Researchers using the European Southern Observatory's Chile-based Very Large Telescope have directly imaged a star that orbits with Betelgeuse — pronounced "beetle juice" — in what is called a binary system.
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