Dawd S. Siraj,MD, MPH

Look up tonight at Orion's left shoulder. That reddish star is Betelgeuse—and you're watching a dying giant that could explode at any moment. Betelgeuse is a red supergiant located roughly 650 light-years away in the constellation Orion. It's one of the largest stars known to astronomy. If you placed Betelgeuse where our Sun is, its outer atmosphere would extend past the orbit of Mars, possibly reaching Jupiter. The star is so large that its surface would engulf Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars entirely. And yet, despite its immense size, Betelgeuse is dying. Stars like Betelgeuse don't age like our Sun. Our Sun is a stable middle-aged star that will burn hydrogen in its core for another five billion years before swelling into a red giant and eventually shedding its outer layers to become a white dwarf. 🤩 - via Leni Nopitasari