At the beginning of 2020, the red giant star Betelgeuse started to dim significantly. Betelgeuse has been known to vary in brightness, but this one was unusual. It grew much dimmer than usual, and for a longer period. Since Betelgeuse is a star at the end of its life, it led some to speculate that perhaps it would go supernova. Astronomers didn’t think that was likely, and of course, Betelgeuse didn’t explode, and gradually its usual brightness returned. But astronomers were puzzled as to why Betelgeuse grew so dim.
Continue reading “Betelgeuse's Mysterious Dimming Solved. It was… Dust”Book Review: We Are All Stardust
Every scientist has a story. Though not all have a specific moment they can point to that ‘got them into science’, they all have people or places or moments which inspired them, or gave them some critical insight, or just kept them going through difficult or tedious times. “We Are All Stardust” is about those scientists, and about those stories.
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