Despite being only about 8 to 10 million years old —much younger than our 4.6-billion-year-old Sun—its massive size caused it to evolve rapidly.
Usually the 10th brightest star in the night sky, its magnitude typically ranges from +0.0 to +1.3 .
Betelgeuse is a , meaning its brightness fluctuates over time.
In late 2019 and early 2020, it experienced a historic drop in brightness, eventually attributed to a massive surface mass ejection that cooled into an obscuring dust cloud.
A red supergiant nearing the end of its life cycle.