Image: Betelgeuse

Description: Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis), the reddish star at the shoulder of Orion, is a semiregular variable star, which usually shines at about magnitude +0.5, only slightly fainter than Rigel (Beta Orionis), the blueish star at the foot of Orion at maigitude +0.1. In late 2019 and early 2020, however, Betelgeuse has undergone a unusually deep minima, when it's magnitude dropped to about +1.6. That is, it shone at less than 40% of it's usual luminosity, so it's brightness was compareable to Bellatrix (Gamma Orionis), the other shoulder star (+1.6 mag). In this view, the usual appearance of Orion (left, in an image taken on Feburary 22, 2012), is compared with a image taken taken on February 21, 2020 (right), clearly showing the unusual dimming of the red giant star. Both images were taken with identical setup and exposure data: Each is a 30 second exposure taken with a Canon EOS 550D camera at ISO 3200, 17mm f/2.8 lens, Cokin P830 diffusor, tracked with the Vixen Polarie star tracker).
Title: Betelgeuse
Credit: Own work
Author: H. Raab (User:Vesta)
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Attribution Required?: Yes