Betelgeuse

Betelgeuse, or Alpha Orionis is the second brightest star located in the northeast part the constellation Orion and the ninth brightest star in the night sky. The name Betelgeuse itself is a corruption of the Arabic يد الجوزاء yad al-jawzā ("hand of the central one"). The star has many names throughout the world including Ardra in Hindi, and Shēnsùsì (参宿四, the Fourth Star of the Constellation of Three Stars), in Chinese.

The Star

Betelgeuse is the 11th brightest star in the night sky, easily seen by human eyes with an apparent magnitude of 0.58, appearing with an orange-like color. In addition it is a luminous red supergiant, with spectral and luminosity type M1-2 Ib. As one of the largest star's known, Betelgeuse has between 12 and 17 times our star's mass, over 650 times it's diameter, and estimated to be 9,400 times as luminous as the sun. If Betelgeuse was the central star of our solar system, it may well extend out to between the orbits of Mara and Jupiter. The star is estimated to be around 640 light-years from Sol.

Future Supernova

Astronomers believe that much like many of the other stars in the Orion constellation, Belegeuse is only a few million years old, and formed from molecular clouds observed in Orion. Due to it's extremely high mass though, the star has evolved quickly, and many astronomers have concluded that Betelgeuse will become a supernova, which if happened would outshine the full moon.

The UC Berkeley's Infrared Spatial Interferometer (ISI) atop Mt. Wilson Observatory in Southern California collected evidence over 15 consecutive years, showing the star is constantly contracting. The star is estimated to have shrunk 15 percent in size since 1993 and the rate of contraction is increasing, the total observed contraction is equal to half an astronomical unit, or equivalent of the distance of Venus from the sun. It is speculated this is the behavior expected for a star that has reached the end of it's life and the beginning of gravitational collapse. because of the mass of Betelgeuse, the result of a supernova explosion will be either a neutron star or even a black hole.