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Back The Atmosphere of Betelgeuse

The Atmosphere of Betelgeuse


Date: 10 December 1996
Satellite: Hubble Space Telescope
Depicts: Alpha Orionis, Betelgeuse
Copyright: Andrea Dupree (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), Ronald Gilliland (STScI),NASA and ESA

This is the first direct image of a star other than the Sun, made with the Hubble Space Telescope. Called Alpha Orionis, or Betelgeuse, it is a red supergiant star marking the shoulder of the winter constellation Orion the Hunter.

The Hubble image reveals a huge ultraviolet atmosphere with a mysterious hot spot on the stellar behemoth's surface. The enormous bright spot, more than ten times the diameter of Earth, is at least 2000 Kelvin degrees hotter than the surface of the star.

Last Update: 2 September 2020
9-Feb-2026 08:28 UT

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