If Betelgeuse were to explode, creating a supernova, would it destroy Earth?
Betelgeuse is the second brightest star in the constellation Orion and it sparked excitement around the world when it began dimming noticeably in 2019.
The strange dimming caused some to believe the big event was close at hand. By February 2020, the star had lost more than two-thirds of its brightness and the change was visible even to the unaided eye.
Astrophysicists say we'd have to be within 50 light-years of a supernova for it to harm us, and Betelgeuse is over 500 light-years away.
And the strange dimming was caused by a cloud of hot gas, released by the star, that temporarily blocked some of the star’s light.