Hubble Telescope Detects Wake of Betelgeuse’s Hidden Companion Star, Confirming Long-Held Theory

CfA Scientists Detect 'Wake' Of Betelgeuse’s Elusive Companion Star

Eddie Gonzales Jr. – MessageToEagle.com – Using new observations from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based observatories, astronomers tracked the influence of a recently discovered companion star, Siwarha, on the gas around Betelgeuse. This artist’s concept shows the red supergiant star Betelgeuse and an orbiting companion star. The companion, which is orbiting clockwise from this […]

Hubble Telescope Detects Wake of Betelgeuse’s Hidden Companion Star, Confirming Long-Held Theory

Hubble Telescope observations have revealed a dense gas wake in Betelgeuse’s atmosphere, confirming the presence of a hidden companion star named Siwarha. The discovery explains the red supergiant’s unusual brightness changes and offers new insight into how massive stars evolve and shed material before becoming supernovae.

Long-suspected companion star finally confirmed around Betelgeuse

Astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian have uncovered direct evidence that the red supergiant Betelgeuse is being shaped by a small, long-suspected companion star. Using nearly a decade of observations from the NASA Hubble Space Telescope and major ground-based observatories, the team tracked how the companion, now named Siwarha, plows through Betelgeuse’s vast outer atmosphere and leaves behind a dense wake of gas. T…

Betelgeuse’s companion star leaves detectable wake

This artist’s concept shows Betelgeuse’s companion star orbiting the red supergiant. The companion, which is orbiting clockwise from this point of view, generates a dense wake of gas that expands outward. It is so close to Betelgeuse that it is passing through the extended outer atmosphere of the supergiant. The companion star is not to scale; it would be a pinprick compared to Betelgeuse, which is hundreds of times larger. The companion’s dista…