2026-07-28 12:04 UTC
The brightness of Betelgeuse changes periodically. For decades astronomers had suspected that some of these variations could be due to a companion star orbiting around it.
Now, the VLT has captured the clearest image ever of Betelgeuse B, a faint star orbiting Betelgeuse.
2/4
📷 ESO/M. Montargès et al.
Replies (3)
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@esoastronomy@mastodon.social 2026-07-28 12:05
While there were indications for this companion's existence, including a possible direct detection with the Gemini North Telescope, this is the strongest evidence yet for Betelgeuse B. The new observations also revealed that Betelgeuse B has two to three times the mass of the Sun. 3/4 📷 ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin.
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@wcbdata@vis.social 2026-07-28 13:21
@esoastronomy@mastodon.social That's no ~~moon~~ star. That's a battle station.
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@zl2tod@mastodon.online 2026-07-28 14:08
@esoastronomy@mastodon.social Saying that one of many gray splotches in the interference pattern is a dark star seems extraordinarily brave. It may well be that there is such a body there, but that image does not prove it.