What makes Betelgeuse special?

Why is Betelgeuse the brightest star?

Betelgeuse is far away, yet it's one of the brightest stars in Earth's sky because it's intrinsically very brilliant, some 100,000 times brighter than our own sun. … Betelgeuse's enormous energy requires that its fuel be expended quickly, which hastens the end of its life.

What are two characteristics of Betelgeuse?

Physical Characteristics Betelgeuse is a colossal object — and a very bright one at that. As a red supergiant nearing the final phases of its life cycle, Betelgeuse has an estimated diameter around a thousand times that of the Sun, with an estimated absolute luminosity of 100,000 times the Sun.

Why is Betelgeuse cooler than the sun?

Betelgeuse is actually cooler than our sun. The sun's surface temperature is about 5,800° Kelvin (about 10,000° Fahrenheit), and Betelgeuse is roughly half that, about 3,000° Kelvin (about 5,000° Fahrenheit). That is why it is red — red stars are cooler than the sun, blue-white stars are hotter.

What if Betelgeuse already exploded?

In late 2019, Betelgeuse, the star that forms the left shoulder of the constellation Orion, began to noticeably dim, prompting speculation of an imminent supernova. If it exploded, this cosmic neighbor a mere 700 light-years from Earth would be visible in the daytime for weeks.

Is Rigel brighter than Betelgeuse?

Instead, the red star Betelgeuse is Alpha Orionis, and Rigel is Beta. But Rigel is the brighter star in Orion. … Nowadays, Rigel outshines Betelgeuse.

Is Betelgeuse a high mass star?

An example of a high-mass star is the red supergiant Betelgeuse; it is 500 times the size of our Sun. … High-mass stars have lives of 10 million years, versus 10 to 50 billion years or more for low-mass stars.

How many suns could fit in Betelgeuse?

So we can put aroun 600 trillion Earths inside Betelgeuse, and around 446 thousands Suns. And that's the lower estimate for Betelgeuse radius. If we take into account the higher radius estimateion, we can put 1400 trillion Earths and 1.06 million Suns inside Betelgeuse.

How is Betelgeuse brighter than the sun?

Betelgeuse is one of the largest known stars and is probably at least the size of the orbits of Mars or Jupiter around the sun. That's a diameter about 700 times the size of the Sun or 600 million miles….Betelgeuse.