Betelgeuse

  • The Night Sky

    Young Astronomers Blog, Volume 29, Number 9. The stars follow a very regular pattern when viewed from the Earth. They appear to move from east to west. This pattern repeats itself over the course of a night (Earth’s rotation) and over the four seasons of the year (Earth’s orbit). The constellations that dominate the night…

  • Betelgeuse is Dimming

    Young Astronomers Blog, Volume 28, Number 2. Astronomers measure the magnitude of a star in a bit of a strange way that dates to Hipparchus. A negative magnitude is brighter than a positive magnitude. A difference of one magnitude is actually a 2.5 times difference in brightness. A star’s apparent magnitude is the perceived magnitude…