Betelgeuse has usually been the eleventh-brightest star in the night sky and, after Rigel, the second-brightest in the constellation of Orion. Some astronomers had initially speculated that the star could be about to explode into a supernova, in a dramatic event that would be visible from Earth. But astronomers now think that something else is happening, which is changing the star in unexpected ways. Now new images in recent months show the fading brightness of the star, as well as the fact that the shape as it appears to us appears to be changing.

As it has continued to dim, Betelgeuse is now about 36 percent of its normal brightness. That is so dramatic that it can be seen with the naked eye, but further investigations with telescopes have attempted to learn more about the mysterious dimming. Edward Guinan, a professor at Villanova University's Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, said that the university has been monitoring the star since 1981. Although the star experiences variability and the initial dimming was expected, it just kept growing dimmer rather than returning to normal brightness, Guinan said. Astronomers using the ESO's Very Large Telescope have now revealed a stunning new image of the star's surface. Then, LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, detected gravitational waves on January 14 that seemed to come from the direction of Orion.

Researchers now speculate that the star is not in fact about to go supernova, but is undergoing some other, similarly dramatic process. It appears that the star is leveling off because the rate of change in its brightness isn't as steep as it was a month ago. And they don't expect it to supernova right now. But if it keeps dimming over the next two to three weeks, that could be a sign that something extraordinary is happening. Astronomers, including Guinan, estimate that it could explode anytime in the next few weeks -- or the next 100,000 years. The new research helps give insight into red supergiants like Betelgeuse and what could happen to cause such unusual behavior.