Overview

• The dimming of Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star, in early 2019 was initially thought by some to be a sign of imminent supernova, but new images from ESO (European Southern Observatory) reveal that the star returned to normal brightness after the event.
• A team from France’s Université Côte d’Azur used the MATISSE instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer for high-resolution photographs of Betelgeuse between December 2018 and December 2020.
• According to the astronomers, the dimming of Betelgeuse was likely caused by an emission of dust, specifically silicon monoxide, triggered by sudden cooling of the star’s surface.
• The ‘Great Dimming Event’ was not a harbinger of a supernova, but likely due to a cold spot that formed on Betelgeuse’s surface, causing it to eject a cloud of dust, corroborating with a 2021 study on the star.
• Even though Betelgeuse's much-awaited supernova may still be tens of thousands of years away, these new findings present valuable observations for future studies of such phenomena.