Meet "Betelbuddy"

After more than a century of anticipation, astronomers have now directly imaged what appears to be a long-hypothesized companion star to Betelgeuse, the red supergiant in Orion’s shoulder. The discovery comes on the heels of predictions made by members of the Institute for Theory and Computation (ITC), who, in 2023, used 127 years of observational data to argue that a small companion star should be lurking nearby.

That prediction has now gained strong observational support. A recent study involving CfA members Morgan MacLeod, Andrea Dupree, Caroline Huang, and Avi Loeb, used high-resolution imaging to reveal a compact source located close to Betelgeuse—right where it was expected to be. The alignment between the new detection and the ITC forecast is compelling, suggesting this isn't just a background object but indeed Betelgeuse’s elusive stellar partner.

This new object, nicknamed informally as "Betelbuddy" in some circles, appears to orbit on a roughly six-year timescale. If confirmed, this would open up the exciting possibility of watching the orbit unfold through continued direct imaging over the coming years.

The discovery was announced by NOIRLab, which shared striking images and data confirming the detection. It’s already generating buzz in the astronomy community and beyond. The discovery was also featured in Sci.News and Science Magazine.

For those looking for the detailed analysis, the preprint of the journal article is now available on arXiv.