Betelgeuse and the red supergiants

TL;DR

This paper reviews the current understanding of Betelgeuse, a nearby red supergiant, synthesizing recent discussions to clarify its structure, behavior, and evolutionary status within the class of red supergiants.

Contribution

It provides a synthesis of recent observational and theoretical insights into Betelgeuse, clarifying key aspects of its structure and evolution.

Findings

Resolved some longstanding riddles about Betelgeuse's behavior

Placed Betelgeuse in the broader context of red supergiant evolution

Summarized recent observational evidence

Abstract

Betelgeuse is one of the most magnificent stars in the sky, and one of the nearest red supergiants. Astronomers gathered in Paris in the Autumn of 2012 to decide what we know about its structure, behaviour, and past and future evolution, and how to place this in the general context of the class of red supergiants. Here I reflect on the discussions and propose a synthesis of the presented evidence. I believe that, in those four days, we have achieved to solve a few riddles.