Near the end of 2019, astronomers watching the red giant Betelgeuse noted how much the star had dimmed, continuing to steadily fade for months. It’s a variable star, and it’s known to get dimmer and brighter, but the big surprise is that it’s still continuing to dim, recently passing magnitude 1.56 and still getting dimmer. This is unprecedented in the decades that astronomers have been watching the star. Our Book is out! https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Today-Ultimate-Viewing-Cosmos/dp/1624145442/Audio Podcast version:ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/universe-today-guide-to-space-audio/id794058155?mt=2RSS: https://www.universetoday.com/audioWeekly email newsletter:https://www.universetoday.com/newsletterWeekly Space Hangout:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-KklSGlCiJDwOPdR2EUcg/Astronomy Cast:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUHI67dh9jEO2rvK--MdCSgSupport us at https://www.patreon.com/universetodayMore stories at https://www.universetoday.com/Twitch: https://twitch.tv/fcainTwitter: https://twitter.com/universetodayFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/universetodayInstagram - https://instagram.com/universetodayTeam: Fraser Cain - @fcain / [email protected]Karla Thompson - @karlaii / https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEItkORQYd4Wf0TpgYI_1fwChad Weber - [email protected]References:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msVuCEs8Ydohttps://twitter.com/betelbot/status/1228395402245890048https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2003/https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/sphere/https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1640a/https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso2003b/https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso2003a/https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso2003d/https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/paranal-observatory/vlt/vlt-instr/visir/