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Alpha Orionis has perhaps the most famous star name in the heavens, Betelgeuse, which is a distortion of the Arabic ‘Jad al-Jauza’, the hand of the Central One.
There is some confusion about just how ‘Betelgeuse’ is pronounced. Some declare that the first syllable must rhyme with 'metal'. Others adamantly proclaim that it should sound like 'beetle'. The star is a red supergiant, the brightest variable star in the heavens. With an estimated size of a thousand Solar radii, if placed in the position of our Sun, the star would displace Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Only ten million years old, Betelgeuse's destiny will be that of a supernova many millions of years hence. As a semiregular variable, it goes from a brightness of 0.2 (nearly as bright as Rigel) to 1.3 (nearly as bright as Aldebaran, alpha Taurus, to the northwest). The AASVO gives a period of 2335 days (=6 yrs 142 days), but as a semiregular, it has multiple unpredictable periods. In binoculars you see two fairly bright stars in the same area, mu Orionis to the northeast and 52 Orionis southwest. While both are close binaries, 52 Ori is the more accessible: 52 Orionis (Struve 795) is a white giant with an identical companion: 6.0, 6.0; 222º, 1.2". Continue with your discovery of Orion by clicking on any of the other orange-coloured stars or deep sky objects. |
