There's been lots of interest lately in the left shoulder of Orion - specifically the bright, red giant star known as Betelgeuse (pronounced like Beetle-juice!) Betelgeuse is normally about the 10th brightest star in the sky. However, it has recently dimmed quite a bit. This may suggest it will blow in a supernova explosion!
The split picture below shows how the star's surface appeared during the beginning and end of last year. The first image shows Betelgeuse having a much more uniform brightness than the later one, while the lower half of Betelgeuse became significantly dimmer than the top.
This massive star is known to be of the type that eventually ends its life in a supernova explosion, so speculation has begun if the recent dimming is a warning that Betelgeuse is about to blow. If it was to go supernova it would blast its store of heavy elements out into our galaxy - providing the raw materials for future stellar generations!
Fortunately, Betelgeuse is far enough away that when it does go supernova, we won't experience any negative effects from it, like radiation. But it will be as bright as the moon for weeks in our sky and it would be visible in the middle of the day!
HOWEVER, astronomers at NASA are saying to not hold our breath. It is possible it could explode tomorrow, but astronomers think it's more likely to happen on a longer timeline, probably more like 100,000 years from now, and it's unlikely to signal its demise in advance.
You can see still Betelgeuse any night! It appears high in the southern sky after nightfall. It will set in the west around 4 am.
