Astronomers are excited to see the cosmic events of the century across Europe. Everyone had their telescopes directed to the region of the Betelgeuse constellation to witness it. Significant celestial events have been in the news for several years because the Betelgeuse is one of the stars in the sky that can be observed with the naked eye due to its brightness. Since its discovery, astronomer communities have been researching its existence and distance from the Earth, and many songs have been written about it. It is one of the stars that has gained popularity quickly.
However, close observation from various telescopes worldwide suggests that the star’s brightness change differs from what is predicted. Astronomers still ought to be convinced about the condition of the star. Different prediction was laid back in the 90s about the Betelgeuse star and its explosion process. Many European scientists gathered to witness the event when they learned the asteroid would pass in front of it.
Fabrizio Melandri, an amateur astronomer, was observing the star from the naked eye for a shift in brightness. But the observation clearly shows that there is not much change in the star’s condition. A shift in the brightness of the star is barely visible.
When she uses her camera to take the one-minute images of the star, the resulting image is slightly dipped in the Betelgeuse brightness. The star’s luminosity slightly drops halfway through the shot, a sign of the shift of the star’s brightness. But only a few details can be collected with the pictures.
Betelgeuse is the giant red star visible in the sky at night and can be observed with the naked eye. It is located in the constellation of the Orion belt. Scientists worldwide are exploring the star’s density and mass to conclude that it will go supernova. The brightness shift shows that the star is near the end of its life.
Therefore, during the event of the explosion, the astronomer’s community expects the star to dim significantly. At least three magnitudes of the shift can be observed when the asteroid Leona passes before it.
However, the change was subtle when the star was passed in front of the star, and little detail was revealed during the events. Scientists now share a broad opinion on the situation. Some believe the predicted results are not seen because of the irregular shape of the asteroid.
Also, the asteroid’s rotation might have caused the obscured results when it passed before the Betelgeuse star. Therefore, the calculated results differ from the actual event, and only a few details can capture the star Betelgeuse.
The astronomer community highly anticipated the event as the condition was perfect to learn more about their favourite star, Betelgeuse. Amateur skywatchers were pointed to their backyard telescope to observe the constellation and waited for the right time when the asteroid passed in front of the star.
Such occultation of the star due to the astroid is a rare cosmic event. The event would provide valuable data that had never been observed before. Hence, the entire scientific community was enthusiastic about the event.
Scientists made many predictions about the current condition of the star. The only way to confirm all the projections is to collect the data when the asteroid passes. Such events help scientists find information on the asteroid’s size, shape, and surface area. Also, when the light bounces from the asteroid, you can observe its properties using the shift of the colour spectrum. Moreover, the event was crucial because it offered insights into the target star.
Collection data is being analysed by the astronomy community, which was involved in observing the various points across Europe. We can expect a detailed report based on the observation and collected data, which may shed light on the nuances of the Betelgeuse star. Also, the high-resolution images may be released in the coming days. Many telescopes were pointed to the constellation to capture the rare event.
Observers who witnessed the events from their home or small backyard telescope did not successfully capture nuanced details. Still, large telescopes are expected to have seen much more information. The astronomy community must wait a while to get the data released from the institutes.
