Betelgeuse’s surface before and during its 2019–2020 Great Dimming

These images, taken with the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, show the surface of the red supergiant star Betelgeuse during its unprecedented dimming, which happened in late 2019 and early 2020. The image on the far left, taken in January 2019, shows the star at its normal brightness, while the remaining images, from December 2019, January 2020 and March 2020, were all taken when the star’s brightness had noticeably dropped, especially in its southern region. The brightness returned to normal in April 2020.

Credit:

ESO/M. Montargès et al.

About the Image

Id:eso2109a
Type:Collage
Release date:16 June 2021, 17:00
Related releases:eso2109
Size:1866 x 878 px

About the Object

Name:Betelgeuse
Type:Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Red Supergiant
Category:Stars

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