Betelgeuse is one of the most famous stars in the sky. It is located on the shoulder of Orion in the constellation, which means it is easily visible to any stargazer. In addition, it recently got a lot of attention because astronomers believe that it will go supernova in the relatively near future (anywhere from now to 100,000+ years from now). For those lucky enough to be around when it happens, the light that it emits will be very visible even during the day, changing the way the sky looks for quite some time.

This star, however, has also been behaving oddly because its brightness would ebb and flow over time, and astronomers didn’t know exactly why. Some speculated that there may be a companion star present, which would explain what was seen.

A new study published open access in the Astrophysical Journal Letters claims that the researchers have confirmed the presence of this companion star, which has been appropriately named “Betel-Buddy.”

The study was done using the Gemini North telescope, which is one of the largest telescopes in the world. This was needed because Betelgeuse emits a deep red color, which made it very difficult to see the companion star at all.

Betel-Buddy has a magnitude of 8.5, and is estimated to be 1.6 times more massive and 9 times more luminous than our sun. If Betelgeuse weren’t there, this star would be visible with standard binoculars. Betelgeuse is around 18 times bigger than our sun, so it overshadows its companion most of the time. Fortunately, this telescope was able to see the companion star. Dr. Steve Howell of the NASA Ames Research Center explained in a statement:

“Gemini North’s ability to obtain high angular resolutions and sharp contrasts allowed the companion of Betelgeuse to be directly detected. Papers that predicted Betelgeuse’s companion believed that no one would likely ever be able to image it.”

While the name Betel-Buddy implies that the two stars are friends, it appears that this is not at all the case. Instead, it looks like this companion star is being consumed by Betelgeuse as it orbits closer and closer to the massive star. This process has likely been taking place for a very long time, but astronomers now predict that it will be fully dissolved within the next 10,000 years.

Howell and his team are excited to continue to monitor these two stars to see this process progress. He said:

“This detection was at the very extremes of what can be accomplished with Gemini in terms of high-angular resolution imaging, and it worked. This now opens the door for other observational pursuits of a similar nature.”

For now, however, they will have to wait because Betel-Buddy is passing behind Betelgeuse, so even with this powerful telescope, it can’t be seen.

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