Space & Astronomy

Iconic star Betelgeuse is not actually alone, astronomers discover

By T.K. Randall
July 29, 2026

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) Situated in the constellation Orion over 500 light-years from the Earth, Betelgeuse is a red supergiant up to 19 times the mass of the Sun and up to 850 times as large.

But there is a secret hiding right next to it that astronomers have only recently discovered.

As it turns out, Betelgeuse is not alone - it is orbited by a second star.

Using the European Southern Observatory's Chile-based Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have found that this companion star is around 3 times the mass of the Sun and 1.8 times the size.It is perhaps no surprise that it has taken us this long to discover it given that it shines with a luminosity approximately 92 times that of the Sun, while Betelgeuse is 100,000 times as bright.

Depictions of Betelgeuse date back centuries, so it is particularly remarkable to discover that what we've been looking at all this time is a binary star system.

"Betelgeuse has been observed throughout history," said study lead author Miguel Montarges.

"It is even depicted in prehistoric paintings. Still, we discover one of its fundamental characteristics only now: it has a companion, and we obtained a direct image of this."

Source: Reuters

Tags: Betelgeuse, Star