Credit & Copyright: Jimmy Westlake
(Colorado
Mountain College)
Explanation:
Begirt with many a blazing star,
Orion the Hunter is one of the most recognizable
constellations.
In this
night
skyscape
the Hunter's stars rise in the northern hemisphere's winter sky
on December 30, 2019, tangled in bare trees near
Newnan, Georgia, USA.
Red super giant star Betelgeuse
stands out in yellowish hues at
Orion's shoulder left of center, but it
no longer so strongly rivals the
blue supergiant star Rigel at the Hunter's foot.
In fact, skygazers around planet Earth can see a strikingly
fainter Betelgeuse now, its brightness
fading
by more than half in the final months of 2019.
Betelgeuse has long been known to be a variable star,
changing its brightness in multiple cycles with approximate
short and long term periods of hundreds of days to many years.
The star
is now close
to its faintest since photometric measurements in 1926/27,
likely due in part to a near coincidence in the minimum of short
and long term cycles.
Betelgeuse is also
recognized as a nearby red supergiant star
that will end its life in a core collapse supernova explosion
sometime in the next 1,000 years,
though that cosmic cataclysm will take place
a safe 700 light-years or so
from
our fair planet.
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 |
Январь Февраль Март Апрель Май Июнь Июль Август Сентябрь Октябрь Ноябрь Декабрь |
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
|
Публикации с ключевыми словами:
Betelgeuse - Бетельгейзе
Публикации со словами: Betelgeuse - Бетельгейзе | |
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