New Images Confirm Unexpected Dimming of Supergiant Star Betelgeuse Caused by Dust Emission

New high-resolution images from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope support theory of Betelgeuse's surface cooling and eclipsing dust cloud as cause of dimming, debunking earlier speculations of imminent supernova.

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.