Artist’s conception of the plumes of gas seen by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope around the red supergiant Betelguese. One of these plumes was estimated to be as large as our entire solar system. Betelguese is shedding mass as the relatively young but unstable star heads toward its imminent, spectacular explosion into a Type II supernova.

The star’s name comes from the Arabic abet al-Jauzā (roughly, “armpit of the Central One”), from its position near the right shoulder of the constellation of Orion (image credit: ESO/L. Calçada).