保护地球，探索宇宙，发现文明
2023年12月15日 Betelgeuse Eclipsed Image Credit & Copyright: Sebastian Voltmer Explanation: Asteroid 319 Leona cast a shadow across planet Earth on December 12, as it passed in front of bright star Betelgeuse. But to see everyone’s favorite red giant star fade this time, you had to stand near the center of the narrow shadow path starting in central M...
2020 May 11 Behind Betelgeuse Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona Explanation: What’s behind Betelgeuse? One of the brighter and more unusual stars in the sky, the red supergiant star Betelgeuse can be found in the direction of famous constellation Orion. Betelgeuse, however, is actually well in front o...
2020 February 18 Orion over the Central Bohemian Highlands Image Credit & Copyright: Vojtěch Bauer Explanation: Do you recognize this constellation? Setting past the Central Bohemian Highlands in the Czech Republic is Orion, one of the most identifiable star groupings on the sky and an icon familiar to humanity for over 30,000 years. Orion has looked pre...
2020 February 17 The Changing Surface of Fading Betelgeuse Image Credit: ESO, M. Montargès et al. Explanation: Besides fading, is Betelgeuse changing its appearance? Yes. The famous red supergiant star in the familiar constellation of Orion is so large that telescopes on Earth can actually resolve its surface — although just barely. The two featured im...
2020 January 2 The Fainting of Betelgeuse Image Credit & Copyright: Jimmy Westlake (Colorado Mountain College) Explanation: Begirt with many a blazing star, Orion the Hunter is one of the most recognizable constellations. In this night skyscape the Hunter’s stars rise in the northern hemisphere’s winter sky on December 30, 2019, tangled in ba...
2020 January 1 Betelgeuse Imagined Illustration Credit: ESO, L. Calcada Explanation: Why is Betelgeuse fading? No one knows. Betelgeuse, one of the brightest and most recognized stars in the night sky, is only half as bright as it used to be only five months ago. Such variability is likely just normal behavior for this famously variable supergiant, but the r...