Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse
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SCI095: A red giant flickers… and astronomers rethink everything.
Betelgeuse, one of the most recognizable stars in the night sky, stunned observers during its dramatic 2019–2020 dimming. Was it about to explode? Or was something stranger happening?
Caroline Knight, Lindsay Sant, and Lino Saubolle break down groundbreaking 2026 research suggesting Betelgeuse may not be alone. What if a hidden companion star is racing inside its outer layers—at supersonic speed?
The team unpacks how this smaller star, dubbed “Siwaha,” may orbit within Betelgeuse’s vast chromosphere, plowing through plasma and creating a massive shockwave. That expanding wake could act like a curtain, dimming the giant star every 2,100 days. Is the “Great Dimming” actually a cosmic traffic wake?
They also tackle a long-standing mystery: Why does Betelgeuse spin faster than a dying supergiant should? The answer may lie in this stellar companion transferring angular momentum—like a swizzle stick stirring a cosmic drink.
Beyond the mechanics, the discussion zooms out to bigger questions:
• How do we detect an invisible star hidden inside another?
• What’s the difference between a nova and a supernova?
• When Betelgeuse finally explodes, what will remain—a neutron star or a black hole?
• And are we seeing Betelgeuse as it is… or as it was hundreds of years ago?
This episode turns a familiar red star into a high-speed astrophysical drama and reexamines how we understand stellar evolution. The night sky may look peaceful—but inside Betelgeuse, it could be chaos.
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Links for this episode:
- If you enjoy Let’s Science, check out Caroline and Lindsay and Lino’s other show, Catholics of Oz.
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