Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse
Betelgeuse (sounds a lot like “beetle juice”), a red supergiant star about 600 lightyears distant, is shown here in this Hubble Space Telescope image which represents the first direct picture of the surface of a star other than the Sun . While Betelgeuse is cooler than the Sun, it is more massive and over 1000 times larger - if placed at the center of our Solar System , it would extend past the orbit of Jupiter . This image reveals a bright, as yet unexplained hotspot on its surface. Betelgeuse is also known as Alpha Orionis, one of the brightest stars in the familar constellation of Orion , the Hunter. Like many star names , Betelgeuse is Arabic in origin. It is derived from a phrase which refers to the hunter's shoulder or armpit, the general area occupied by this star in drawings of the figure in the constellation . As a massive red supergiant, it is nearing the end of its life and will soon become a supernova .