Betelgeuse, or Beta Orionis, is the second brightest star in the constellation of Orion (the Hunter). It is a red supergiant, one of the biggest stars

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Betelgeuse, or Beta Orionis, is the second brightest star in the constellation of Orion (the Hunter). It is a red supergiant, one of the biggest stars known, and almost 1000 times larger than our Sun. It is also one of the most luminous stars known, emitting more light than 100000 Suns. Such extreme properties foretell the demise of a short-lived stellar king. With an age of only a few million years, Betelgeuse is already nearing the end of its life and is soon doomed to explode as a supernova. When it does, the supernova should be seen easily from Earth, even in broad daylight. This image was created from photographic material taken with the Oschin Telescope at Mount Palomar Observatory, forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2.

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Size: 6825px × 5121px
Photo credit: © DAVIDE DE MARTIN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, beta, betelgeuse, biggest, camera, evolution, observatory, ori, orion, orionis, oschin, palomar, red, schmidt, star, stars, supergiant, supernova, telescope