[HN Gopher] Betelgeuse Remains Steadfast in the Infrared
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       Betelgeuse Remains Steadfast in the Infrared
        
       Author : fhars
       Score  : 17 points
       Date   : 2020-02-26 21:57 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.astronomerstelegram.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.astronomerstelegram.org)
        
       | macintux wrote:
       | Just fascinating. I spent some time goggling at its absence this
       | weekend, glad to hear it should(?) return to prominence
        
       | petschge wrote:
       | Have a look at the plot [1] from the excellent plotting tool [2]
       | of the American Association of Variable star observers [3]. You
       | see a strong dip in the U band (U for UV, 365 nm plus or minus 66
       | nm), B band (B for blue, 445 nm \pm 94 nm) and V band (V for
       | visible, 551 nm \pm 88 nm). But in infrared (only the J band had
       | enough data to make it worth plotting) at 1.22 micro (plus or
       | minus 212 nm) the light curve is really flat.
       | 
       | 1: https://imagebin.ca/v/5DhzHxxS3Eq2 2:
       | https://www.aavso.org/LCGv2/ 3: https://aavso.org/
        
       | geuis wrote:
       | This supports recent hypotheses in the last couple weeks that the
       | dimming is from expelled dust.
       | https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/02/new-image-shows-bete...
        
       | Jun8 wrote:
       | From the abstract:
       | 
       | "This suggests that the recent dramatic fading observed at visual
       | wavelengths is due mostly to local surface phenomena, such as
       | changes in dust extinction or molecular opacity along the line of
       | sight through the inner wind and complex atmosphere, and/or
       | surface temperature fluctuations."
        
         | shadykiller wrote:
         | Does that mean it's not exploding ?
         | 
         | Super disappointing. Is there still hope to see the supernova
         | in our lifetime ?
        
           | ProAm wrote:
           | There's always hope.
        
           | jlmorton wrote:
           | "Thus, while Betelgeuse may explode tomorrow or any time in
           | the next few 1e5 yr, the unprecedented current visual
           | faintness is unlikely to be a harbinger of its impending core
           | collapse."
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | chaoticmass wrote:
           | Of course there is hope. Lots of stars out there.
        
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       (page generated 2020-02-26 23:00 UTC)