Deep Sky
Betelgeuse
Star
Constellation: Orion
My guy! Probably the first star I learned as boy. It is the 8th brightest star in the night sky, and second to Rigel in the constellation.
Betelgeuse, is classified as a red supergiant, type M21ab, meaning it is one of the largest and most luminous of the observable stars, only aboutr 640 light-years away from us. Astronomers are not sure of Betelgeuse’s mass though. Anywhere from 5 to 30 times of our sun, its absolute magnitude is about -6.02.
Living fast and dying young, compared to our sun, Betelgeuse is a youngster only about 10 million years old. It had a hard youth, having been ejected from its birthplace in near the Orion’s belt, Betelgeuse is running away at supersonic speed, some 30 km a second. This is fast enough to create a bow shock some 4 light-years wide.
Astronomers believe that Betelgeuse will go supernova within the next million years.
3 images stacked
5 sec ea
Date: 04-29-13
5 sec ea
Date: 04-29-13