{"id":255841,"date":"2025-07-24T05:44:53","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T19:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?p=891099"},"modified":"2025-07-24T05:44:53","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T19:44:53","slug":"nasa-scientist-finds-predicted-companion-star-to-betelgeuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=255841","title":{"rendered":"NASA Scientist Finds Predicted Companion Star to Betelgeuse"},"content":{"rendered":"
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4 min read<\/p>\n

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An image of Betelgeuse, the yellow-red star, and the signature of its close companion, the faint blue object.<\/div>\n
Data: NASA\/JPL\/NOIRlab. Visualization: NOIRLAB.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A century-old hypothesis that Betelgeuse, the 10th brightest star in our night sky, is orbited by a very close companion star was proved true by a team of astrophysicists led by a scientist at NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n

The research published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters in the paper \u201cProbable Direct Imaging Discovery of the Stellar Companion to Betelgeuse<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fluctuations in the brightness and measured velocity of Betelgeuse, the closest red supergiant star to Earth, had long presented clues that it may have a partner, but the bigger star\u2019s intense glow made direct observations of any fainter neighbors nearly impossible.<\/p>\n

Two recent studies by other teams of astronomers reignited the companion star hypothesis by using more than 100 years of Betelgeuse observations to provide predictions of the companion\u2019s location and brightness.<\/p>\n

If the smaller star did exist, the location predictions suggested that scientists had a window of just a few months to observe the companion star at its widest separation from Betelgeuse, as it orbited near the visible edge of the supergiant. After that, they would have to wait another three years for it to orbit to the other side and again leave the overpowering glow of its larger companion.<\/p>\n

Searches for the companion were initially made using space-based telescopes, because observing through Earth\u2019s atmosphere can blur images of astronomical objects. But these efforts did not detect the companion.<\/p>\n

Steve Howell, a senior research scientist at Ames, recognized the ground-based Gemini North telescope in Hawai\u2019i, one of the largest in the world, paired with a special, high-resolution camera built by NASA, had the potential to directly observe the close companion to Betelgeuse, despite the atmospheric blurring.<\/p>\n

Officially called the ‘Alopeke speckle instrument<\/a>, the advanced imaging camera let them obtain many thousands of short exposures to measure the atmospheric interference in their data and remove it with detailed image processing, providing an image of Betelgeuse and its companion.<\/p>\n

Howell\u2019s team detected the very faint companion star right where it was predicted to be, orbiting very close to the outer edge of Betelgeuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope our discovery excites other astrophysicists about the robust power of ground-based telescopes and speckle imagers \u2013 a key to opening new observational windows,\u201d said Howell. \u201cThis can help unlock the great mysteries in our universe.\u201d<\/p>\n

To start, this discovery of a close companion to Betelgeuse may explain why other similar red supergiant stars undergo periodic changes in their brightness on the scale of many years.<\/p>\n

Howell plans to continue observations of Betelgeuse\u2019s stellar companion to better understand its nature. The companion star will again return to its greatest separation from Betelgeuse in November 2027, a time when it will be easiest to detect.<\/p>\n

Having found the long-anticipated companion star, Howell turned to giving it a name. The traditional star name \u201cBetelgeuse\u201d derives from Arabic, meaning \u201cthe hand of al-Jawza\u2019,\u201d a female figure in old Arabian legend. Fittingly, Howell\u2019s team named the orbiting companion \u201cSiwarha,\u201d meaning \u201cher bracelet.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Photo of the constellation Orion, showing the location of Betelgeuse – and its newfound companion star.<\/div>\n
NOIRLab\/Eckhard Slawik<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The NASA\u2013National Science Foundation Exoplanet Observational Research Program (NN-EXPLORE) is a joint initiative to advance U.S. exoplanet science by providing the community with access to cutting-edge, ground-based observational facilities. Managed by NASA\u2019s Exoplanet Exploration Program, NN-EXPLORE supports and enhances the scientific return of space missions such as Kepler, TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), Hubble Space Telescope, and James Webb Space Telescope by enabling essential follow-up observations from the ground\u2014creating strong synergies between space-based discoveries and ground-based characterization. NASA\u2019s Exoplanet Exploration Program is located at the agency\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.<\/p>\n

To learn more about NN-EXPLORE, visit:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/exoplanets.nasa.gov\/exep\/NNExplore\/overview<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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