Giant Star Betelgeuse Gains a Companion ⚡ экспресс
Spectral analysis of Betelgeuse revealed variable circumstellar absorption and chromospheric outflows with a period of about 2000 days, consistent with the recent detection of the companion Siwarha via speckle interferometry. Absorption in the optical Mn I line and mass loss, traced by ultraviolet lines of Fe II, Si I, and Mg I, intensify after the companion transits the stellar disk, then wane until the next transit. This dynamics points to an expanding wake left by the companion moving within the extended atmosphere at roughly 2.3 stellar radii. The results directly link the observed plasma activity to the orbital motion of the satellite.
Betelgeuse is a giant star ready to explode as a supernova. But it may not be alone: a small companion star, Sivarkha, circles in a tight orbit. Every 2000 days, it plunges through Betelgeuse’s outer layers, like a boat cutting through water, leaving waves of superheated gas.
Astronomers spotted this by breaking Betelgeuse’s light into colors — the method of spectroscopy reveals the subtlest motions of matter. The star's flickering, which puzzled scientists, is now explained. Remarkably, though Betelgeuse would stretch from the Sun to Jupiter’s orbit, its outer shell is cooler than our star’s surface. That lets the companion survive each close pass. Watching this cosmic dance brings us closer to understanding the final fate of massive stars.
🎯 Betelgeuse is so vast that if you placed its center where the Sun is, its surface would reach the orbit of Jupiter.
🎬 In the novel 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,' one of the planets orbits Betelgeuse.