The route / Betelgeuse
Sector 9 · Red supergiant star
Betelgeuse
A red supergiant big enough to swallow the inner solar system.
Betelgeuse is the red star at Orion's shoulder and one of the largest stars visible without a telescope. If it replaced the Sun, its surface would reach past the asteroid belt toward the orbit of Jupiter.
It is near the end of its life and is expected to explode as a supernova, though probably not for something like 100,000 years. In 2019 and 2020 it dimmed dramatically; studies found that it had thrown off a cloud of dust that briefly blocked part of its light.
Key facts
- Distance
- About 550 to 650 light-years
- Type
- Red supergiant
- Size
- Roughly 700 to 1,000 times the Sun's width
- The Great Dimming
- 2019 to 2020
Betelgeuse in Comet Courier
In the Betelgeuse sector a vast, mottled red star fills one side of the sky, its surface boiling slowly. Everything is washed in deep red light.