Orion Constellation

ORION:

The constellation Orion is perhaps the best known pattern in the night sky, well, a big rival for Big Dipper in fame, and the month of December(does not hold good for the beautiful clear skies of Chennai now) is a great time for locating this celestial gem. Located on the celestial equator, Orion is well placed for observers in all parts of the world except in the polar regions.

Orion the Hunter is represented by two bright stars, Betelgeuse and Bellatrix, marking his shoulders, and two more bright stars, Saiph and Rigel, marking his knees. His head is marked by Meissa and his belt, at a jaunty angle, by three stars in a line: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. Hanging from his belt is his sword, with the famous Orion Nebula as its centerpiece.

I have marked the Betelgeuse star with red for a purpose. It represents the thiruvadirai nakshathiram in Hindu astrology. 

Recently, Betelgeuse’s brightness began to dim in unprecedented ways, attracting the attention of astronomers and amateur stargazers around the world. The brightness of most stars, including our Sun, vary over time. But these variations are usually small, nothing beyond a few percentage points of the star’s total light output. Betelgeuse, however, has been up to something else.

It began fading sometime in October 2019 and had lost fully two-thirds of its shine by mid-February 2020. Normally ranked the tenth brightest star in the night sky, Betelgeuse has suddenly slipped to 25th. But then, think about it, how lucky are we to witness this?

So what is happening inside Betelgeuse for this to happen? So is the Red Giant to SuperNova happening currently? When will we see the sky lit with brightness for sometime? Please explore the various hypotheses around Betelgeuse's sensation!