Star profile

Betelgeuse

Alpha Orionis · Orion

Variable star

3D likeness based on its real data · class M · ~3,200 K

What is Betelgeuse

Betelgeuse burns red on Orion's shoulder, a supergiant so vast that, placed at the heart of our Solar System, its surface would swallow Jupiter whole. Its light takes nearly five centuries to reach us: what we see tonight set out before Copernicus had published his heliocentric revolution. In the winter of 2019 it underwent a «great dimming» that set astronomers dreaming of an imminent supernova. It will explode one day —tomorrow or a hundred thousand years from now— and then it will shine even by daylight.

Where it is and when to see it

Betelgeuse lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is one of the brightest stars in the sky: visible even from a city. Its best month of the year is December, when it culminates around midnight.

From London it culminates about 46° above the horizon.
From New York it culminates about 57° above the horizon.
From Sydney it culminates about 49° above the horizon.

It can be seen from anywhere north of 83° S.

It ranks no. 2 in brightness among the 128 stars of Orion in our catalogue. To find it, start from Rigel, the brightest: it lies about 19° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).

The light you see today left it about 500 years ago.

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Astronomical data for Betelgeuse

Constellation: Orion
Apparent magnitude: 0.45
Distance: 498.0 light years
Coordinates (J2000): RA 88.793° · Dec 7.407°
Catalogue: HIP 27989 · HD 39801

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Other stars in Orion

Orion has 128 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.

See all 128 stars in Orion