Image of Betelgeuse’s surface taken in December 2019

The red supergiant star Betelgeuse, in the constellation of Orion, underwent an unprecedented dimming in late 2019 and early 2020. This stunning image of the star’s surface was taken with the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope in December 2019, and is one of the images taken during an observing campaign aimed at understanding why the star became fainter. Betelgeuse’s brightness returned to normal in April 2020.

Astronomers now understand that Betelgeuse’s dip in brightness was the result of a dusty veil that emerged from the star, partially concealing its southern region. 

An earlier version of this image was released in early 2020.