Betelgeuse Isn’t Exploding: Mysterious Dimming Turns Out to Be Giant Dust Sneeze

By Michelle Starr The official verdict is in. As the red supergiant Betelgeuse once again returns to normal brightness levels, astronomers have taken the star’s temperature to identify the cause of its recent dimming. It turns out the star wasn’t fluctuating internally; rather, Betelgeuse sneezed out a huge cloud of dust, which obscured its light for …