The Hubble telescope records the explosion of a red giant star

According to the information you recorded Hubble Space TelescopeAnd the in 2019, star red giant Betelgeuse It exploded and lost a large part of its mass and luster. Despite this, scientists suggest that the star in the constellation Orion may not be about to explode completely.

The explosion caused an unprecedented surface mass ejection (SME) that was 400 billion times larger than a typical coronal mass ejection event (SME) – small and medium eruptions are explosions that occur in the sun’s corona. According to researchers, the star continues to do unusual things, but is slowly recovering.

“We’ve never seen a massive mass ejection from the surface of a star. We just let something happen that we didn’t fully understand. It’s an entirely new phenomenon that we can observe and solve surface detail directly using Hubble. We’re watching the evolution of stars in real time,” said the scientist at the Astrophysical Center. Harvard and Smithsonian University Andrea Dupree.

Scientists study the data to understand the reason behind the stellar eventsource: NASA/ESA/Elizabeth Wheatley (STScI)

The data helps scientists understand how red stars lose mass in the last moments of their lives, until they explode as supernovae. Even explosions can change the fate of things.

Explosion and power outage

The studies are conducted using basic data obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope, but also with more recent information from the STELLA Automated Observatory, the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, the STEREO Observation Mission, and the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO).

The explosion at Betelgeuse occurred after the rising temperature deep inside the star caused shocks and pulsations, causing significant loss to its surface. Since he is one of the brightest stars, they also noticed a dimming during the eruption – the event lasted a few months.

“Betelgeuse continues to do some unusual things right now; the inside is kind of bouncing,” Dupree said.

At the time of the explosion, the emitted mass of the star cooled and formed a dark cloud of dust, dimming its brightness further. The event interrupted the star’s 400-day period of oscillation, which astronomers have observed for nearly 200 years.