Betelgeuse, to put it most politely, burped. In the autumn of 2019 the star, a red supergiant at the shoulder of the constellation Orion the Hunter, began to dim drastically to less than half its usual brightness, and some astronomers worried — or perhaps were hoping — that it would explode in a supernova. Astronomers now say that dust was the culprit in the Great Dimming and that Betelgeuse itsel