They discover the activities of Siwarha, the companion of Betelgeuse Astrobitácora

Thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based observatories, a team of scientists has managed to capture the effects of Betelgeuse's companion.

Thanks to the Hubble telescope and ground-based observatories, a team of researchers captured the effect of Siwarha, Betelgeuse's companion star.A subject that offers a new picture of a star that for decades was believed to be poorly understood...

Further evidence for the existence of Betelgeuse's companion

Thanks to new observations from NASA's Hubble Telescope and ground-based observatories, Betelgeuse's companion star Sivarha, discovered several months ago, has been further studied in the gas surrounding Betelgeuse (originally called Betelboudi).This allows us to understand that it has changed.

The team discovered Siwarha's wake by studying changes in Betelgeuse's brightness over nearly eight years.These changes apparently reflect the effects of the recently unknown star as it passes through Betelgeuse's extended atmosphere.This discovery could solve one of the biggest mysteries about one of the most famous stars in the sky.Something that will help scientists explain how it behaves and evolves, while opening new ways to understand other giant stars that are nearing the end of their lives.

Betelgeuse is about 650 light-years from Earth, in the direction of the Orion constellation, and it is such a large red ultrava that it would be like the sun in 400 million stars. Due to its large size and proximity on the cosmic scale, Betelgeuse is one of the few stars that can be observed directly on its face and atmosphere with our instruments.

Changes of Betelgeuse

Using the Hubble telescopes and ground-based observatories Fred Lawrence Whipple and Roque de los Muchachos, researchers were able to study the pattern of changes in Betelgeuse.With their help, they obtained clear evidence of the existence of a companion star (the existence of which was long suspected) and its impact on the outer atmosphere of the red supergiant.These changes include changes in the star's spectrum (that is, the specific colors of light emitted by different elements), as well as in the speed and direction of gases in the outer atmosphere due to the trace of denser material.

The path appears every six years, or about 2,100 days, after passing in front of the beetles.Something that confirms what theoretical models have suggested.The researchers describe it as a boat moving through the water.Sivara creates a ripple effect in the beetles' environment that is recorded in the data.This is the first time, they explain, that direct signs of this wake, or gas trails, have been seen.Which confirms that Betelgeuse really does have an invisible companion.

A star that shapes its appearance and behavior For decades, the scientific community has been watching the changes in brightness and aspects of the surface of Betelgeuse, hoping to find out why the star behaves the way it does. That curiosity grew after the sudden decrease in brightness in 2020. There are two distinct periods of oscillation that are very surprising.On the one hand, a short cycle of 400 days, which has recently been attributed to its pulse.The other is a long, secondary period lasting 2100 days.

Betelgeuse's companion star

Until now, the possibilities are very different.From large convection cells and dust clouds to magnetic activity and the possibility of a hidden companion.For some time, several studies have suggested that this long secondary period can be better explained by the presence of a low-mass companion.A star that should orbit deep in Betelgeuse's atmosphere.

So, everything seems to match perfectly, but we can't be sure.Finally, for the first time, we have found evidence suggesting that a companion star is changing Betelgeuse's atmosphere.Although the idea of ​​a companion star has gained popularity over time, it is still considered less likely than other scenarios.Now, Siwalach's discovery provides new insight into how massive stars like Betelgeuse change over time.

Their discovery allows us to study how they evolve, eject material from their outer layers and eventually explode as supernovas.As Betelgeuse now eclipses its companion from our view, researchers are preparing new observations for its reappearance in 2027. This helps explain similar mysteries in other giant and supergiant stars. Betelgeuse will be a leading star in astronomy for years to come...

The study is by A. Dupree, P. Cristofari, M. MacLeod et al.;“Betelgeuse: Detecting the Expanding Wake of a Companion Star.”It can be accessed via this link on arXiv.