Astronomers find out where Betelgeuse disappeared

Researchers have finally solved the mystery of the mysterious dimming of the bright star Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion.

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Red supergiant 725 light-years from Earth began to fade sharply last October. By February, its brightness was only 36% of the norm.

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Scientists have suggested that the star is in the final stage of its evolution and will soon turn into a supernova. They even simulated a future outbreak.

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Later, astronomers suggested that Betelgeuse does not die – the star could simply “sneeze”, that is, release large dust cloudthat blocked the light coming from her.

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In a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal, scientists from Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics confirmed this conclusion. Working with the Hubble Telescope, astrophysicists got a clearer picture of how superhot plasma is released from the surface of a star, gradually cools and eventually turns into dust.

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“The resulting cloud has blocked light from about a quarter of the star’s surface,” the European Space Agency said in a statement, which adds that the star has since returned to its normal brightness.

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However, astrophysicists are not yet completely sure what caused this plasma eruption.

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