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Our Island Universe: Has Betelgeuse Exploded?!

earthsky.org

Betelgeuse, the bright orange/red star in the armpit of Orion the Hunter, is going to explode any time now. Betelgeuse this winter is only half as bright as it was last winter. Has it already exploded? What does that mean for us here on Earth? #OurIslandUniverse

Betelgeuse image caption: Brian Ottum kindly provided this direct comparison of Betelgeuse a few years ago and Betelgeuse now. He wrote: “Left is February 2016. Right is December 31, 2019. Note that the brightness/appearance of all background stars are identical left versus right, but Betelgeuse is definitely fainter on the right.” 

https://earthsky.org/space/betelgeuse-dimming-late-2019-early-2020-supernova

Greg Jenkins has been the Operations Director at MSPR since 1999. Greg is a 1996 graduate of Morehead State University with a BME in Music Education and received a Masters of Science in Industrial Technology in 2008. Greg oversees training, scheduling, and evaluation of the student board operator staff, preparation of the daily traffic logs and serves as weekday classical music host. He is also the webmaster of the MSPR website and maintains MSPR's webstreaming and podcasting.