Talk:Betelgeuse

Betelgeuse B?

arXiv:2408.09089, not yet accepted for publication but something to keep an eye on. SevenSpheres (talk) 16:57, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

Nice. 21 Andromedae (talk) 17:00, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

And now a second preprint supporting a companion to Betelgeuse. SevenSpheres (talk) 02:24, 18 September 2024 (UTC)

@SevenSpheres and 21.Andromedae: And here's direct imaging of the companion from Gemini Observatory, announced today: Hidden neighbor: Astronomers confirm long-suspected companion star near Betelgeuse. The paper: Probable Direct Imaging Discovery of the Stellar Companion to Betelgeuse, The Astrophysical Journal Letters (2025) (link: https://dx.doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/adeaaf -- that link doesn't seem to work at the moment, but should soon) Renerpho (talk) 17:51, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

Nice. 21 Andromedae (talk) 18:09, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

[1] Here's the NOIRLab press release, with a bit more info -- including links to the two 2024 papers (1, 2) and acknowledgement that they were used to predict the companion's location. Renerpho (talk) 19:19, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

And here's the actual paper, submitted to arxiv on 21 July (to be published on 24 July): https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.15749 I think the fact that this is only a 1.5-sigma detection should be mentioned somewhere. Renerpho (talk) 02:34, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

We need to be careful with whatever we add to the article, about the properties of the companion, because the press releases (including that from NOIRLab themselves) contradict the paper in several points. For instance, where the NOIRLab press release says that the companion has an estimated mass of around 1.5 times that of the Sun, and it appears to be an A- or B-type pre-main-sequence star — a hot, young, blue-white star that has not yet initiated hydrogen burning in its core,[2] the paper states: Assuming the companion is coeval with Betelgeuse with an age of 10 Myr, the companion has a mass of ∼ 1.6M⊙ and is likely a young, pre-main-sequence F-dwarf (that is, a relatively cold, yellow/white star). And the image from the press release does not appear in the paper. In fact, the images in the paper indicate the detection is of much lower significance, and they say so themselves ("1.5-sigma"). Also, the results presented here are not definitive, as the detection is at the limit of the instrument capabilities is something that should not be overlooked. We must not state this as a definitive discovery, and I don't think we should claim that Betelgeuse is definitely a binary at this time. Renerpho (talk) 02:49, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

Yeah, it is a shame that the media is overly-sensacionalist, saying that a less than 2 sigma detection is an ultimate detection and that the existence of Beletelgeuse B is now a fact carved in stone. That's why i do not trust anything from press relases and media without checking the paper first. 21 Andromedae (talk) 21:01, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

Beteigeuze

Similar pronounciation, same topic, but a stellar system. Please clarify. 2003:E6:4F0D:2D00:3643:16D0:F793:4156 (talk) 19:09, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

It is the German spelling of the star name. See de:Beteigeuze. StarryGrandma (talk) 21:42, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Spelling and pronunciation

From the Spelling and pronunciation sub-section in the Ethnological Attributes:

"/ˌbɛtəlˈɡɜːrz/ BET-əl-GURZ – Martha Evans Martin, The Friendly Stars[200]

"The -urz pronunciations are attempts to render the French eu sound; they only work in r-dropping accents."

What Martin actually wrote was:

"Bet-el-gerz ́ "

Martin gave no key to the pronunciation, so the interpretations given in both IPA and English Respelling appear to be individual research at best, and possibly pure speculation. Also, the pronunciation attributed to Martin is simply not what Martin wrote. The statement about r-dropping accents may very well be true, but it is not supported by any citation. So I intend to delete the pronunciation, because it's not found in the cited reference, and the comment because it's uncited and has no relevance once the pronunciation is deleted.

Any objections? After about a week, if there are no valid objections, or actual citations in support of the material, I will delete it. 172.56.194.177 (talk) 22:57, 26 January 2025 (UTC)

I also think it should be removed if a source that properly verifies cannot be found. Remsense ‥ 论 17:19, 31 January 2025 (UTC)

Table of angular diameter estimates

Is this table needed? I see it is pretty out-of-date, not helpful and doesn't include valuable information. The information on angular diameters is already discussed in some sections. 21 Andromedae (talk) 19:56, 30 January 2025 (UTC)

New patch note just dropped

Betelgeuse B is said to be tidally decelerated and is expected to collide into the giant star in 10 000 years, forming a red nova. I wonder if Betelgeuse B would scatter the other layers of the primary, leaving behind a bare core akin to cataclysmic variables. Pancakes321 (talk) 06:33, 22 July 2025 (UTC)