The next supernova
3 Lastmillion
years
Earlyexpansion
Betelgeuseleaves
themainsequence,
burninga shellof
hydrogenarounda now
predominantlyhelium
core.Thiscausesit
toexpandandcool,
increasingitsluminosity
bya factorofthree.4 Last100,000years
Supergiantphase
Heliumfusioninthecore
beginssmoothlyasthestar
reachesredsupergiantstatus.
Redsupergiantsdevelopdeep
convectionzonesreaching
downhalfwaytothecore,
alteringsurfacecomposition.5 Presentto100,000
yearsinthefuture
Supernovaphase
WeareunsureifBetelgeuse
isstillfusingheliumorifit
hasmovedontocarbon.This
shiftwillquicklyleadtocore
collapseanda supernovaina
fewthousandyears.Going supernova
Our knowledge of Betelgeuse and star evolution
allow us to map its life and predict its death©Nicholas
Forder
Surface temperature, K
Luminosity (Thousands of solar luminosities)
50,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 7000 5000 3000 200002525125150125125Earth’s orbit
Jupiter’s orbit
1 Formation 9 to 10 millionyearsago
BornoutofthecloudsofOrion
BetelgeusewaslikelyformedintheOrion
MolecularCloudComplexwithaninitialmass
between 10 and 25 timesthatofourSun.2 First 8 to 9 million
yearsofitslife
Onthesequence
Betelgeuseisa mainsequence
star,burninghydrogeninitscore
witha surfacetemperatureof
about25,000to32,000Kelvin
anda luminosity10,000to
100,000timesthatoftheSun.1
3
2
(^44)