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
![Betelgeuse Merely Burped, Astronomers Conclude (Published 2021)](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/5f7f5a89551d43ffe7e1cf5e65b8759fbffc0fff/height=288;version=1;width=512/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic01.nyt.com%2Fimages%2F2021%2F06%2F22%2Fscience%2F16outthere-betelguese1%2F16outthere-betelguese1-facebookJumbo.jpg%3Fyear%3D2021%26h%3D550%26w%3D1050%26s%3D413814f479460905e76c8aea22eb62876f0a019973d6f802f934e52165b4a43b%26k%3DZQJBKqZ0VN)