A close companion to Betelgeuse is probably detected
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.
Observed — measured or witnessed, with the observation cited.
Subjects
- Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) · celestial body · Constellation Orion, as seen from Earth · not located
- Gemini North telescope, Maunakea · research facility · United States
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
The Probable Direct-imaging Detection of the Stellar Companion to Betelgeuse
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.
The Astrophysical Journal Letters · 2025 · Partly verified
S. B. Howell et al., ApJL (2025); DOI 10.3847/2041-8213/adeaaf; preprint arXiv:2507.15749; accompanying NOIRLab release noirlab2523
Recorded on Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis)
- Betelgeuse fades by more than a magnitude
- A close companion to Betelgeuse is probably detected
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- Betelgeuse fades by more than a magnitude · 2019-10 to 2020-03