See this three times: Betelgeuse star to be visible in Arizona’s winter skies
Dec 27, 2016, 12:36 PM
Betelgeuse
As the Arizona skies chill during winter, you will be treated to a most amazing sight!
Look to the upper left star of Orion. This is the amazing red super giant known as Betelgeuse, a star that is around 650 light years from earth.
If that distance is correct, light from Betelgeuse left around the year 1367 and is just now arriving at Earth!
It is a pretty amazing star.
As stars get older, many of them collapse under the imbalance between outward radiation pressure and the gravity of the star itself. In this case, Betelgeuse may have already gone into this complex state and will one day explode in the form of a supernova!
Astronomers are learning so much about Betelgeuse. The star may have even swallowed a small companion star in the past and may one day become a household name when it explodes and glows like a small sun in our sky.
To spot Betelgeuse, look to the eastern sky around 10 p.m. for the amazing constellation Orion the hunter!
At least seven bright stars make up the constellation, which has been a prominent feature in mankind’s record of the night sky for centuries.
To follow the sky with Dr.Sky, get your December star chart.
Happy new year!
