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My favorite constellation is Orion, and Betelegeuse is  my favorite star in it.

There’s a lot to recommend Orion;  it’s out in the winter when “seeing” is better, it’s got that neat nebula in the belt, both lovely red Betelgeuse and clean blue Rigel.  It’s also a kind of rosetta stone for locating other features.

Betelgeuse is reliably red, unlike the red of Mars that sometimes seems peachy or pink to me.

I had noticed that Betelgeuse was dimmer, but chalked it up to atmospheric interference or my aging eyeballs.  Turns out it really is dimming, and may be entering its final stages (ie, it could BTFU into a supernova).

This could happen after humanity is dead and gone, but I’d sure like to see the fireworks during my lifetime.  I hope that’s not selfish.