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(GIST OF SCIENCE REPORTER) Betelgeuse

(JANUARY-2024)

Betelgeuse, one of the brightest stars in the sky, will be eclipsed by an asteroid named Leona.

Betelgeuse is a red super giant star located in the Orion constellation.
Leona, the asteroid is a slowly rotating, oblong space rock situated in the primary asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Betelgeuse, located approximately 700 light-years away, is observable with the naked eye.
Betelgeuse is thousands of times brighter than our sun and around 700 times larger.
Its colossal size is such that if it replaced our sun, it would extend beyond Jupiter.
Despite being considerably younger at 10 million years old compared to our sun’s 4.6 billion years, Betelgeuse is expected to be short-lived due to its mass and the rapid rate at which it’s consuming its resources.
In 2019, Betelgeuse experienced a significant dimming when a substantial amount of surface material was expelled into space.
This resulted in a temporary blockage of starlight due to a dust cloud, and within six months, Betelgeuse had returned to its previous brightness.
Scientists anticipate Betelgeuse to undergo a supernova explosion within the next 100,000 years.