2026-07-28 14:08 UTC
@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.
Replies (1)
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@esoastronomy@mastodon.social 2026-07-28 14:39
@zl2tod@mastodon.online The position of the source coincides with an earlier tentative signal by another team. That signal was just at a 1.5 sigma level, namely, just 50% brighter than the noise. This new detection is 5-6 times brighter than the noise. So the question isn't so much whether it's a real source on the sky, but whether it orbits Betelgeuse. As we mention in the press release, the team plans to observe it at the other side of its orbit, but so far this agrees with what we expect the companion to be.