The red giant star Betelgeuse is closer than we thought — will its explosion affect earth?

Betelgeuse is one of the best-known stars in the night sky, as well as the easiest to find. New examinations of this behemoth star suggest it is both smaller — and closer — than astronomers believed. This red giant star will, one day, explode as a supernova. However, it is challenging to determine when the eruption will take place. In addition to new measurements of the star’s size and distance, this new study from Australian National University (ANU) suggests the star is not likely to erupt for 100,000 years. Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betel… don’t say it! At the end of 2019,…

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