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Its Bayer designation is α Orionis, Latinised to Alpha Orionis and abbreviated Alpha Ori or α Ori. [ 19 ] With a radius between 640 and 764 times that of the Sun, [ 14 ] [ 11 ] if it were at the center of our Solar System , its surface would lie beyond the asteroid belt and it would engulf the orbits of Mercury , Venus , Earth , and Mars .
Betelgeuse, also designated Alpha Orionis, is a massive M-type red supergiant star nearing the end of its life. It is the second brightest star in Orion, and is a semiregular variable star. [ 7 ] It serves as the "right shoulder" of the hunter (assuming that he is facing the observer).
Bellatrix is the third-brightest star in the constellation of Orion, positioned 5° west of the red supergiant Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis). It has the Bayer designation γ Orionis, which is Latinized to Gamma Orionis. With a slightly variable magnitude of around 1.6, it is typically the 25th-brightest star in the night sky.
Detail of Bayer's chart for Orion showing the belt stars and Orion Nebula region, with both Greek and Latin letter labels visible. A Bayer designation is a stellar designation in which a specific star is identified by a Greek or Latin letter followed by the genitive form of its parent constellation's Latin name.
As Betelgeuse burns through fuel in its core, it has swollen to massive proportions, becoming a red supergiant, the latter phase of giant stars. When the star explodes, the event could be briefly ...
That would mean that the star is not close (on a human timescale) to erupting as a supernova. Even at the smaller diameter found in this new study, Betelgeuse would easily swallow all the inner ...
Although Betelgeuse has the Bayer designation Alpha Orionis (α Orionis / α Ori), it is most often the second brightest star in the constellation Orion behind α; Rigel (Beta Orionis) is usually brighter (Betelgeuse is a variable star and is on occasion brighter than Rigel).
Betelgeuse has entered an uncommon period of brightening again, this time rising in brightness by around 50 percent. Is the star about to go supernova?