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Betelgeuse

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Betelgeuse (bēt`əljz'), bright star in the constellation Orion Orion, in astronomy, constellation located on the celestial equator. It is one of the most conspicuous and easily recognizable constellations in the entire sky.
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; Bayer designation α Orionis; 1992 position R.A. 5h54.8m, Dec. +7°24'. A red supergiant with a luminosity about 13,000 times that of the sun, it is of spectral class spectral class, in astronomy, a classification of the stars by their spectrum and luminosity. In 1885, E. C. Pickering began the first extensive attempt to classify the stars spectroscopically.
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 M2 Iab. Betelgeuse is a semiregular variable star variable star, star that varies, either periodically or irregularly, in the intensity of the light it emits. Other physical changes are usually correlated with the fluctuations in brightness, such as pulsations in size, ejection of matter, and changes in spectral
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 with apparent magnitude magnitude, in astronomy, measure of the brightness of a star or other celestial object. The stars cataloged by Ptolemy (2d cent. A.D.), all visible with the unaided eye, were ranked on a brightness scale such that the brightest stars were of 1st magnitude and the
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 ranging from 0.06 to 0.75; thus, at maximum brightness it is one of the 10 brightest stars in the sky. Betelgeuse marks the right shoulder of Orion; its distance is about 500 light-years.

Betelgeuse

(from Arabic bat al-dshauza, “the giant's shoulder”) Brightest star in the constellation Orion, marking the hunter's eastern shoulder. About 430 light-years from Earth, Betelgeuse is easily identifiable by its brightness, its position in brilliant Orion, and its deep reddish colour. It is a red supergiant star, one of the largest known; its diameter is roughly 500 times that of the Sun.


Betelgeuse [′bed·əl‚jüs]
(astronomy)
An orange-red giant star of stellar magnitude 0.1-1.2, 650 light-years from the sun, spectral classification M2-Iab, in the constellation Orion; the star α Orionis.


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Mars' ruddy color makes it a close match to the red giant stars Aldebaran and Betelgeuse.
Orionid meteors appear to fall from above the star Betelgeuse, the bright orange star marking the shoulder of the constellation Orion.
It's unclear why Betelgeuse has shrunk and whether it will later rebound, said Nobel laureate Charles Townes, retired from the University of California, Berkeley.
 
 
 
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