Dusting off Betelgeuse?

We looked at the red supergiant star Betelgeuse a spell back in "Betelgeuse Befuddles Astronomers". Like many atheopaths, it is not very stable. It is also the kind of star that could be expected to make its own big bang and go supernova.

Indeed, it was showing some of the expected signs for that possibility. Then things changed. Apparently, that dimming of the star followed by its increasing brightness could be attributed to space dust, and then that stuff went away.

Orion with Betelgeuse emphasized
Modified from an image by Pixabay / sl1990

It is highly unlikely that someone said its name three times or took a huge can of pressurized air and blew off the dust. Besides, the dust out yonder is not exactly the same kind that we deal with. That kind of dust is important to deep-time conjectures, including star and planet formation. Secularists have incomplete cosmic evolution speculations that are rejected by biblical creationists.

What was responsible for Betelgeuse’s unusual behavior? In my previous two articles about Betelgeuse, I briefly explained two possibilities. One possibility was that the dimming was a consequence of a beat frequency between two and possibly three long-period cycles of pulsation in Betelgeuse. However, the more likely scenario was the eruption of much dust into the atmosphere of Betelgeuse. According to a new report, this dust was injected in the south polar region of Betelgeuse and then spread throughout its atmosphere, temporarily blocking light inside the star from escaping. As the dust was blown away, the atmosphere cleared, and Betelgeuse’s light was able to shine through largely unencumbered once again.

. . . Dust particles consist of silicates, which include the elements oxygen, silicon, and various metals. . . . dust particles are coated with a thin veneer of various ices. In the interstellar medium (ISM), astronomers detect all the elements making up dust particles. . . . The conditions in the ISM are such that the process of forming dust grains takes a very long time, far too long to explain, even over billions of years.

To read the full article, jet on over to "Betelgeuse Is Back in the News".