Ancient Stargazers Saw Betelgeuse Shine a Different Color

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August 18, 2022

Dear Reader, This week, we're stargazing. Specifically, we're looking at the red giant star Betelgeuse—the crimson dot at the right "shoulder" of the constellation Orion. Although its current ruddy appearance is unquestionable, a new study of ancient records suggests our present-day view deviates from that of antiquity, when ancient astronomers reported seeing a yellow-shining Betelgeuse. If true, the color shift has major implications for our understanding of the star's evolution, and the timing of its eventual death as a cataclysmic supernova. Elsewhere, we have stories on a potential resolution to the black hole information paradox, preparations for NASA's imminent moon shot, linkages between UFOs and exotic atmospheric phenomena, a conversation between astrophysicists about the James Webb Space Telescope, and more. Enjoy!

Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Space & Physics @LeeBillings

Astronomy Ancient Stargazers Saw Betelgeuse Shine a Different Color Although Betelgeuse is currently a red giant star, astronomers millennia ago reported it as yellow By James Riordon

Space Exploration NASA's Giant SLS Rocket Rolls to Launch Pad for Artemis 1 Moon Mission The Space Launch System rocket could lift-off on its voyage to lunar orbit as early as late August By Elizabeth Howell,SPACE.com

Planetary Science NASA's UFO Study Isn't Really Looking for Space Aliens A new investigation of unidentified aerial phenomena could have bigger impacts on atmospheric science than on astrobiology By Sarah Scoles

Astronomy Watch JWST Scientists Discuss the Space Telescope's Stunning Debut Scientific American co-presents a discussion about the past, present and future of the James Webb Space Telescope By Fionna M. D. Samuels

Public Health Nuclear War Could Spark Global Famine Smoke from burning cities would engulf Earth after a nuclear war, causing worldwide crop failures and starvation, models show By Alexandra Witze,Nature magazine

Black Holes What Is the Black Hole Information Paradox? A Primer Black holes, wormholes, entanglement, Einstein, mysterious islands and new science that sees how the inside of a black hole is secretly on the outside. By Jason Drakeford,Clara Moskowitz,Jeffery DelViscio,Sunya Bhutta

Black Holes How Physicists Cracked a Black Hole Paradox Quantum entanglement and spacetime wormholes helped to solve a long-standing quandary By George Musser

Black Holes How the Inside of a Black Hole Is Secretly on the Outside Mysterious "islands" help to explain what happens to information that falls into a black hole By Ahmed Almheiri

Black Holes Black Hole Discovery Helps to Explain Quantum Nature of the Cosmos New insights from black hole research may elucidate the cosmological event horizon By Edgar Shaghoulian

Genetics Quantum Tunneling Makes DNA More Unstable The freaky physics phenomenon of quantum tunneling may mutate genes By Lars Fischer,Gary Stix

Culture Octavia E. Butler's Legacy of Time Travel Why evolutionary biology and social justice belong together, the Silicon Valley fatalism that's ruining our planet, and more By Amy Brady

Geology New Classification Reveals Just How Many Ways Minerals Form A huge number of minerals' origins are tied to life on Earth By Fionna M. D. Samuels

QUOTE OF THE DAY "Truth be told, physicists are happy black holes are proving so tough to figure out. If the problem is this hard, the solution has got to be profound." George Musser, science writer

FROM THE ARCHIVE Escape from a Black Hole To save quantum mechanics, information must break free from black holes. New observations may help tell us how By Steven B. Giddings | December 2019

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