# Betelgeuse Just Is Not That Cool: Effective Temperature Alone Cannot Explain the Recent Dimming of Betelgeuse

@article{Levesque2020BetelgeuseJI,
title={Betelgeuse Just Is Not That Cool: Effective Temperature Alone Cannot Explain the Recent Dimming of Betelgeuse},
author={Emily M. Levesque and Philip Massey},
journal={arXiv: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics},
year={2020}
}
• Published 24 February 2020
• Physics
• arXiv: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
We present optical spectrophotometry of the red supergiant Betelgeuse from 2020 February 15, during its recent unprecedented dimming episode. By comparing this spectrum to stellar atmosphere models for cool supergiants, as well as spectrophotometry of other Milky Way red supergiants, we conclude that Betelgeuse has a current effective temperature of 3600 +/- 25 K. While this is slightly cooler than previous measurements taken prior to Betelgeuse's recent lightcurve evolution, this drop in…

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