Zooming in on Betelgeuse

This video takes the viewer from the constellation of Orion to the surface of the supergiant star Betelgeuse, which underwent an unprecedented dimming in late 2019 and early 2020. As we zoom closer to the star, we see the star’s “flames”: clouds of dust captured in a dramatic image taken with the VISIR instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. The dot appearing at the end of the zoom is a March 2020 image taken with the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope showing Betelgeuse’s visible surface, which has a size close to that of the orbit of Jupiter.

More information and download options: http://www.eso.org/public/videos/eso2109d/

Credit:
ESO/P. Kervella/M. Montargès et al., Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgement: E. Pantin, N. Risinger (skysurvey.org). Music: J. B. Monell (www.johanmonell.com)