The Great Dimming of Betelgeuse seen by the Himawari-8 meteorological satellite

Betelgeuse, one of the most studied red supergiant stars(1,2), dimmed in the optical range by similar to 1.2 mag between late 2019 and early 2020, reaching a historical minimum(3-5) called 'the Great Dimming'. Thanks to enormous observational effort to date, two hypotheses remain that can explain the Dimming(1): a decrease in the effective temperatures(6,7) and an enhancement of the extinction caused by newly produced circumstellar dust(8,9). However, the lack of multiwavelength monitoring observations, especially in the mid-infrared, where emission from circumstellar dust can be detected, has prevented us from closely examining these hypotheses. Here we present 4.5yr, 16-band photometry of Betelgeuse between 2017 and 2021 in the 0.45-13.5 mu m wavelength range making use of images taken by the Himawari-8(10)( )geostationary meteorological satellite. By examining the optical and near-infrared light curves, we show that both a decreased effective temperature and increased dust extinction may have contributed by almost equal amounts to the Great Dimming. Moreover, using the mid-infrared light curves, we find that the enhanced circumstellar extinction actually contributed to the Dimming. Thus, the Dimming event of Betelgeuse provides us with an opportunity to examine the mechanism responsible for the mass loss of red supergiants, which affects the fate of massive stars as supernovae(11).

Automated summary

Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star, experienced a phenomenon called 'the Great Dimming'. Through analyzing the light curves, it was found that both a decrease in effective temperature and an increase in dust extinction contributed almost equally to the Dimming. This event provides an opportunity to study the mechanism responsible for the mass loss of red supergiants.