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Confirmed: Betelgeuse has a twin

Betelgeuse - the red supergiant star in the constellation of Orion, has a companion or binary twin, astronomers have confirmed.

Friday July 25, 2025 1:10 AM, Science Desk

[An image of Betelgeuse, the yellow-red star, and the signature of its close companion, the faint blue object. (Visualization: NOIRLAB)]

Betelgeuse - the red supergiant star in the constellation of Orion, has a companion or binary twin, astronomers have confirmed.

Using the Gemini North telescope in Hawai‘i, NASA astronomers have directly imaged a faint companion hugging the swollen surface of Betelgeuse.

“A century-old hypothesis that Betelgeuse, the 10th brightest star in our night sky, is orbited by a very close companion star was proved true by a team of astrophysicists led by a scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley”, the American space agency said in a blog post.

Astronomers have long believed that Betelgeuse has a partner. But, because of fluctuations in its brightness and measured velocity, the detection of any fainter neighbors nearly impossible.

Two recent studies by other teams of astronomers reignited the companion star hypothesis by using more than 100 years of Betelgeuse observations to provide predictions of the companion’s location and brightness.

The astronomers said the elusive companion is believed to be the cause behind Betelgeuse's puzzling six-year dimming cycle, a mystery that has persisted for over a thousand years.

The star system's newfound configuration, which features Betelgeuse gradually nearing the end of its life and a tightly orbiting blue-white companion, could also foretell a cosmic cannibalisation event in the distant future.

Closest Detected Companion

The astronomers found that this companion is roughly 1.5 times the mass of the Sun and orbits just four astronomical units from Betelgeuse—about four times the distance from Earth to the Sun.

This makes it the closest detected companion to a red supergiant ever observed, existing deep within Betelgeuse's extended atmosphere.

Scientists believe the companion hasn't yet ignited hydrogen fusion, suggesting it remains in an early stellar stage.

“I hope our discovery excites other astrophysicists about the robust power of ground-based telescopes and speckle imagers – a key to opening new observational windows,” Steve Howell, a senior research scientist at Ames, said. “This can help unlock the great mysteries in our universe.”

Howell plans to continue observations of Betelgeuse’s stellar companion to better understand its nature. The companion star will again return to its greatest separation from Betelgeuse in November 2027, a time when it will be easiest to detect, NASA said.

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