Is famous supergiant star Betelgeuse putting up its last light show?

Among the 200 billion stars dispersed across our universe, one star, famously the brightest one out of all, is nearing its death. Scientists are calling it an extraordinary phenomenon in cosmic history because they believe the famous super red giant is dying too young.

The star, namely Betelgeuse, has kept scientists on their toes for the past decades as it keeps brightening and dimming, confusing experts as to whether the star is going supernova.

However, as the Betelgeuse star's brightness recently increased by up to 50% between May and June 2013, scientists have once again started debating when it may burst.

The left shoulder of the constellation Orion is made up of the red supergiant Betelgeuse, which is 500–600 lightyears away from Earth.

It is predicted to go supernova In the next 100,000 years.

Hideyuki Saio of Tohoku University in Japan recently published research on the star that suggested it might be nearing the end of its carbon-burning phase, the star's final stage of life.

Nevertheless, another team led by László Molnár from Konkoly Observatory in Hungary has subsequently responded to the conclusion with their own data that imply Betelgeuse is in the earlier part of its lifetime and may yet have a few more millennia to go, according to BBC at Night Magazine.

Notwithstanding the situation, Betelgeuse is still a strong contender to be the next supernova visible from the Milky Way galaxy.

Betelgeuse's brightness varies over time, primarily following a 400-day cycle, as astronomers have known for a very long time.

Scientists suggest Betelgeuse's brightness has changed significantly in recent years due to an ejection of matter from the star, which caused turbulence and disruption of its magnetic field. This is likely due to the effects of this event.

During Betelgeuse's fading phase, the star's pictures were taken with the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope.

Starting in December 2019, Betelgeuse dimmed by a factor of around 2.5 from its usual mag. +0.5, reaching a low of mag. +1.6 from February 7 to 13, 2020, before returning to its normal brightness over the following few months, the report said.

Stars convert hydrogen into helium to sustain themselves against gravity. They burn helium into carbon when hydrogen runs out, resulting in a red giant and no energy to support gravity.

Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star, approximately 8 million years old, that has burned through the hydrogen in its core, resulting in a red giant and then a neutron star. When this runs out of fuel, the core collapses to form a supernova.

Astronomers agree that Betelgeuse will go supernova soon, but in astronomical terms, it could mean the next 10,000 or even 100,000 years, the report said.

However, determining its stage is difficult due to its variability, distance, and the fact that the carbon-burning phase doesn't change the exterior of a star.