23/07/2025
In a breakthrough discovery, astronomers have finally spotted a long-suspected companion orbiting the red supergiant Betelgeuse—one of the brightest and most enigmatic stars in the night sky.
The newfound star, now proposed to be named Siwarha (Arabic for “Her Bracelet”), is a small, faint object orbiting remarkably close to Betelgeuse. Though difficult to detect, its presence fits predictions that date back years, and its identification marks a major observational achievement.
Betelgeuse, located roughly 548 light-years away in the Orion constellation, is a massive, bloated red giant nearing the end of its life. With a radius about 764 times that of our Sun and a mass up to 19 times greater, it's set to end in a spectacular supernova within the next 100,000 years. That explosive end will have dire consequences for its newfound partner. Siwarha orbits at just 4 astronomical units—closer than Jupiter is to the Sun—and is believed to be about 1.6 solar masses. Its orbit lasts just under six years.
What makes this binary system so fascinating is the evolutionary mismatch between the two stars. While Betelgeuse is racing toward its fiery demise, Siwarha hasn’t even reached the main sequence yet—it's still too young to start hydrogen fusion. Born at the same time, the two stars are at drastically different life stages, thanks to their size difference.
Siwarha may never get the chance to shine. When Betelgeuse explodes, its blast could obliterate or heavily damage its tiny sibling. The next opportunity to observe Siwarha more clearly comes in November 2027, giving astronomers a limited window to refine their techniques and confirm the nature of this doomed star.
Steve Howell et al, "Probable Direct Imaging Discovery of the Stellar Companion to Betelgeuse," The Astrophysical Journal Letters (2025).
