Betelgeuse Companion Star
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Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with NASA’s Universe of Learning partners: Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Video imagery:
- Annotated image of constellation Orion and surrounding constellations: E. Slawik/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani
- Constellation Orion with inset of Betelgeuse and companion: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Image Processing: M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)
- Gemini North Telescope: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. Chu
- Image of Betelgeuse and Siwarha: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA. Image Processing: M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)
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A white line moves through colorful images of space.
Title: News From the Universe.
Text: August 4, 2025. Betelgeuse Companion Star.
The red supergiant star named Betelgeuse is the 10th brightest star in the sky, and astronomers have long thought that it may have a close-orbiting companion star.
Betelgeuse's brightness made direct observations of any companion nearly impossible, until now.
At the ground-based Gemini North telescope in Hawaii, astronomers used the 'Alopeke speckle instrument, an advanced imaging camera built by NASA, to detect the companion star.
'Alopeke captured many thousands of short exposures to measure atmospheric interference and remove it with detailed image processing, providing an image of Betelgeuse and its companion.
Astronomers plan to study the companion star again in November 2027, the next time it will return to its greatest separation from Betelgeuse and be easiest to detect.
This news was brought to you in part by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.