We had to send back the flowers, and cancel the dirge musicians. My astronomy class was planning an epic goodbye to one of their favorite stars (because who doesn’t like saying “Betelgeuse”), but it looks like those plans may be on hold. The so called super giant used to be in the top 15 brightest stars, but had faded so drastically in the last month that people who know things (but apparently don’t really know things) said it was going to explode and be gone. <cue the hired dirge>
…but it’s made a miraculous recovery!
Rumors of Betelgeuse’s impending death have been greatly exaggerated. The red supergiant star appears to be in no danger of imminently exploding, even though a recent, dramatic dip in brightness hinted that it could be on its last legs. The latest observations reveal instead that the star is starting to regain its former light.
It’s still looking a little weird though. Charlie and I were taking out the trash last night and noticed it’s blinking and flickering rather oddly…more so than it did a few months ago. So maybe it’s not out of the woods yet. We’re having a hard time picturing Orion without a shoulder. Does this mean the scorpion finally got him? Is Zeus reneging on his deal with Artemis? So many questions, but I think we should still have that star-watching goodbye party.