Betelgeuse

Coordinates: 05h 55m 10.3053s, +07° 24′ 25.426″ Betelgeuse is generally the ninth-brightest star in the night sky and second-brightest in the constellation of Orion (after Rigel). It is a distinctly reddish, semiregular variable star whose apparent magnitude varies between +0.0 and +1.3, the widest range of any first-magnitude star. At near-infrared wavelengths, Betelgeuse is the brightest star in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation α Orionis, which is Latinised to Alpha Orionis and abbreviated Alpha Ori or α Ori. Classified as a red supergiant of spectral type M1-2, Betelgeuse is one of the largest stars visible to the naked eye. If Betelgeuse were at the center of the Solar System, its surface would extend past the asteroid belt, engulfing the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and possibly Jupiter. However, there are several other red supergiants in the Milky Way that are larger, such as Mu Cephei and VY Canis Majoris. Calculations of its mass range from slightly under ten to a little over twenty times that of the Sun. It is calculated to be 640 light-years away, yielding an absolute magnitude of about −6. Less than 10 million years old, Betelgeuse has evolved rapidly because of its high mass. Having been ejected from its birthplace in the Orion OB1 Association—which includes the stars in Orion's Belt—this runaway star has been observed moving through the interstellar medium at a speed of 30 km/s, creating a bow shock over four light-years wide. Betelgeuse is in the last stages of its evolution, and it is expected to explode as a supernova within the next million years. In 1920, Betelgeuse became the first extrasolar star to have the angular size of its photosphere measured. Subsequent studies have reported an angular diameter (apparent size) ranging from 0.042 to 0.056 arcseconds, with the differences ascribed to the non-sphericity, limb darkening, pulsations, and varying appearance at different wavelengths. It is also surrounded by a complex, asymmetric envelope roughly 250 times the size of the star, caused by mass loss from the star itself. The angular diameter of Betelgeuse is only exceeded by R Doradus and the Sun. α Orionis (Latinised to Alpha Orionis) is the star's designation given by Johann Bayer in 1603. The traditional name Betelgeuse is derived from either the Arabic إبط الجوزاء Ibṭ al-Jauzā’, meaning 'the armpit of Orion', or يد الجوزاء Yad al-Jauzā’ 'the hand of Orion' (see below). In English there are four common pronunciations of this name, depending on whether the first e is pronounced short or long and whether the s is pronounced 's' or 'z': the last popularized for sounding just like 'beetle-juice'. See below for a few additional pronunciations.