Betelgeuse is behaving oddly

[Gawdzilla Sama]

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200101.html

Betelgeuse Imagined
Illustration Credit: ESO, L. Calcada
Explanation: Why is Betelgeuse fading? No one knows. Betelgeuse, one of the brightest and most recognized stars in the night sky, is only half as bright as it used to be only five months ago. Such variability is likely just normal behavior for this famously variable supergiant, but the recent dimming has rekindled discussion on how long it may be before Betelgeuse does go supernova. Known for its red color, Betelgeuse is one of the few stars to be resolved by modern telescopes, although only barely. The featured artist's illustration imagines how Betelgeuse might look up close. Betelgeuse is thought to have a complex and tumultuous surface that frequently throws impressive flares. Were it to replace the Sun (not recommended), its surface would extend out near the orbit of Jupiter, while gas plumes would bubble out past Neptune. Since Betelgeuse is about 700 light years away, its eventual supernova will not endanger life on Earth even though its brightness may rival that of a full Moon. Astronomers -- both amateur and professional -- will surely continue to monitor Betelgeuse as this new decade unfold

[Minimalist]

Nobody remember Kohoutek?

I remember the hype.

[Fireball]

We've been able to observe stellar behavior in only a crude sense for a few centuries. Odd in the case of Betelgeuse would be a matter of degree, since we've observed an extremely minuscule portion of its lifetime. Who knows what that thing is going to do? Interesting, nonetheless. 

[Paleophyte]

There are some interesting Chinese records from the 1st century BC that Betelgeuse was yellow at that time. If true, that would be a pretty remarkable change in just a few thousand years, if not less. Definitely sub-prime real estate.

[Chimp3]

I would love to see a star explode! Wonder if we said "Beetlejuice!" three times real fast would make it happen?

[Astreja]

The American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) is keeping a very close eye on Betelgeuse -- they just put out a call for comparative photographic and spectrographic data, measuring the star against ones of comparable magnitude and, if possible, composition (i.e. comparing red star to another red rather than to a blue one).

[Gawdzilla Sama]

And ten thousand years from now an exploration team will find the data buried deep in a vault. They'll add us to the list of civilizations that were snuffed by Betelgeuse.

[Paleophyte]

Betelgeuse continues its mysterious decline. You can see this quite markedly with the naked eye It has dropped from the 10th brightest star in the night sky to the 21st.

"Edward Guinan of Villanova University and colleagues caused a sensation among astronomers last month when they reported "[Betelgeuse] has been declining in brightness since October 2019, now reaching a modern all-time low of V = +1.12 mag on 07 December 2019 UT. Currently this is the faintest the star has been during our 25+ years of continuous monitoring."

Little did they know when they issued their telegram in December that Betelgeuse was about to become even fainter. “On 06 January 2020 UT, the magnitude of Betelgeuse was V = +1.37,” reports Guinan. That’s ~20% dimmer than the "modern all-time low" registered the month before."

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Has anybody tried turning it off and back on again?

[Mathilda]

Has anybody tried turning it off and back on again?

I think it might be about to do that anyway.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Has anybody tried turning it off and back on again?

I think  it might be about to do that anyway.

Now I'm turned on.