Astronomers have used the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in the Atacama Desert region of northern Chile to obtain the strongest evidence yet that the famous star Betelgeuse has a companion star. After a century of investigation, science is closer than ever to conclusively identifying Betelgeuse as a binary system consisting of two stars: Betelgeuse A and Betelgeuse B. Betelgeuse is a red-colored star visible to the naked eye in the constellation Orion, located about 650 light-years from Earth.
A century-long quest to unveil Betelgeuse's second star
The hypothesis of another star orbiting Betelgeuse was first proposed around 100 years ago to explain the star's strange dimming, observed for over a thousand years. While other teams had gathered evidence of Betelgeuse B's existence, this new image is the clearest direct observation ever. Team leader Miguel Montargès of the Observatoire de Paris stated: This is the conclusion of a century-long quest. We have shown that Betelgeuse is not single; it is accompanied by a faint stellar companion. I jumped from my chair when I saw the processed images.
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The VLT's SPHERE instrument reveals Betelgeuse B
The discovery was made possible by the VLT's SPHERE instrument, which features a coronagraph that blocks out the light of the main star, allowing measurement of the wavelength and polarity of light reflected off nearby planets or stars. Montargès and colleagues used clues from two 2024 papers that predicted Betelgeuse B would be at its furthest from Betelgeuse A in December of that year. Honestly, I thought we did not have the sensitivity to detect Betelgeuse B, Montargès added. Because it is more massive than predicted, we see it! The companion turned out to have a mass between two and three times that of the Sun, higher than earlier estimates that suggested it was similar to our star.
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Greater mass than expected and future implications
The fact that we can still discover a nearby companion, more massive and brighter than the Sun, around such a well-studied star is remarkable. These are among the best moments in science: seeing something new, unexpected. The team aims to confirm Betelgeuse B conclusively with a follow-up observation in one year, when the companion will be on the other side of the star. The question remains open whether this companion will affect the evolution of the red supergiant, which once caused concern about an imminent explosion due to a sudden brightening. The research was published on July 28 in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. For insights on how technology drives discovery, see the article on OpenAI hacked and its impact on SMEs. More information on Betelgeuse is available on Wikipedia.
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