VLT images of Betelgeuse and its companion

 

Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have obtained the clearest image ever of what likely is Betelgeuse B, a star orbiting Betelgeuse.

Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star in the Orion constellation. Its brightness changes periodically, and for decades astronomers had suspected that some of these variations could be due to a companion star orbiting around it.

The image in the middle inset in this image was taken in January 2019 with the SPHERE instrument at ESO’s VLT, and shows Betelgeuse itself. The image in the inset on the left was taken in December 2024, when the companion was predicted to be furthest apart from Betelgeuse as seen from Earth. In this inset Betelgeuse has been removed, revealing a source (marked with a crosshair) consistent with being Betelgeuse B.

Credit: ESO/M. Montargès et al. Background: N. Rissinger (skysurvey.org)

NASA’s Hubble Captures Crimson Cloud Sparkling with White, Blue Stars

 

Like fresh fireworks launched against a background of dissipating smoke, blue and white stars shine brilliantly against a crimson background of glowing gas in this image of stellar nursery LH 95 from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

LH 95 is a region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that orbits the Milky Way. Low-mass infant stars live alongside massive blue giant stars in what is known as a stellar association, one of many in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

The LH 95 region's most massive stars, possessing at least three times the mass of the Sun and visible here as the largest and brightest blue stars, expel ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds that both heat and shape the surrounding hydrogen gas. Dark filaments stand out in sharp contrast against the glowing hydrogen where denser dust lanes resist erosion.