Unveiling the Mysteries Behind Betelgeuse's "Great Dimming" with 15 Years of Data

A team of astronomers has used 15 years of data from the STELLA robotic telescope to study the "Great Dimming" event of Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star. They found that the dimming was not consistent across the star's sphere, with the southern hemisphere being darker than the northern. The data revealed that two powerful shockwaves in the photosphere caused a major outflow of material, leading to the dimming. The events didn't happen simultaneously across all photospheric layers, and it took until early 2022 for Betelgeuse to settle back down.