A close companion to Betelgeuse is probably detected

Assembled from 17 blocks · 1 evidence · 7 related

1. Story
2. Speckle imaging with the 'Alopeke instrument on the 8.1-metre Gemini North telescope produced what its authors describe as the probable direct detection of a stellar companion to Betelgeuse - roughly 1.5 solar masses, some six magnitudes fainter in the optical, apparently a hot pre-main-sequence star, orbiting at a separation of order four astronomical units with a period near six years. A 2020 observation taken during the Great Dimming, when the companion was predicted to lie in front of or behind the star, showed nothing; the 2024 observation found it where the prediction placed it. The companion is expected to be drawn into the supergiant.
3. Knowledge
4. Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis)
5. Gemini North telescope, Maunakea
6. A close companion to Betelgeuse is probably detected
7. Connections
8. Gemini North telescope, Maunakea
9. Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis)
10. Gemini North telescope, Maunakea
11. Red giant and asymptotic giant branch
12. Betelgeuse fades by more than a magnitude
13. A close companion to Betelgeuse is probably detected
14. A close companion to Betelgeuse is probably detected
15. A close companion to Betelgeuse is probably detected
16. Evidence
17. Reports speckle-imaging observations with 'Alopeke on Gemini North in 2020 and 2024 yielding a probable detection of a companion of roughly 1.5 solar masses at the predicted separation and position angle. Title, DOI and arXiv identifier come from publisher and preprint listings via search; neither the paper nor the NOIRLab release could be fetched (both domains blocked). The word "probable" is the authors' own and is retained here.