An international research team led by French astronomer Miguel Montargès has announced the strongest evidence to date that Betelgeuse, one of the most recognizable stars in the night sky, possesses a stellar companion. Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile’s Atacama Desert, the team directly imaged the companion star, known as Betelgeuse B, producing the clearest observations yet of the object.
The search for a companion to Betelgeuse has extended over approximately a century, with astronomers initially proposing its existence around a century ago as a potential explanation for observed variations in the star’s brightness. Despite extensive observations over the decades, the companion remained undetected until recent developments. Two studies published in 2024 provided predictions about where the companion should be located, indicating that it would reach its greatest apparent separation from Betelgeuse in December 2024. The research team then conducted observations during that month and spent several months processing and analyzing the resulting data.
The observations revealed that Betelgeuse B is considerably more massive than previously anticipated. Initial scientific estimates suggested the companion would have a mass roughly equivalent to the Sun, but the new findings indicate it possesses approximately two to three times the Sun’s mass. The team detected light directly from the companion itself using the SPHERE instrument, which is typically employed for detecting exoplanets around other stars. Earlier observations with the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii had provided suggestive evidence of the companion’s existence, but the latest measurements from the European Southern Observatory’s equipment constitute the most definitive evidence to date.
While researchers express high confidence in the discovery, they emphasize that additional confirmation observations are necessary. A subsequent measurement showing the candidate companion positioned where orbital predictions place it would provide final certainty regarding its presence. The discovery introduces new considerations for understanding Betelgeuse’s evolution, particularly regarding how the companion might influence the red supergiant’s eventual supernova explosion. Montargès indicated that the research team intends to investigate whether the presence of this companion could affect the star’s future development and ultimate fate.
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