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I too have just had a look, using my 9x60 Binoculars, i estimate the magnitude of Betelgeuse at 1.1 Comparable with Pollux (1.2), brighter than Castor (1.6), Alhena (1.9) and Elnath (1.6) Fainter than Procyon (0.4) and Saturn (0.1) In Summary:- Observation made 22 April 2003 Star YYYYMMDD (UT) Mag ORI Alpha 20030422.860 11 KGE Instrument: 9 x 60 Binoculars, clear&hazy No Moon. Observers Code: KGE- Keith Geary, Kingscourt, Ireland 53d54'N -6D46'59"W ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Koppelman" <lolife@bitstream.net> To: "Taichi Kato" <tkato@kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp> Cc: <vsnet-campaign-mira@ooruri.kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp>; <vsnet-lpv@ooruri.kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp>; <vsnet-chat@ooruri.kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp> Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2003 3:57 AM Subject: [vsnet-campaign-mira 57] Re: [vsnet-chat 6250] Is Betelgeuse faint? > I just went and did a visual estimate and would put it at about 1.1 to > 1.2. It appeared about as bright as Pollux, but it was at 20 degree vs. > 50 degrees for Pollux so maybe 1.0 at the brightest. It looked brighter > than Elnath (1.6) and brighter than Alhena (1.9) but much less bright > than Saturn (0.11). This was from suburban light pollution. > > I think this supports the notion it is fainter? > > Michael Koppelman > > > On Monday, April 21, 2003, at 09:32 PM, Taichi Kato wrote: > > > There have been a domestic "breaking news" stating that Betelgeuse > > is > > extremely faint. I received this news both electronically and by a > > snail > > mail. The news tells that the star is the *faintest* in the past > > decade. The news has been widely relayed throughout the astronomical > > community in this country, and is becoming "a big news" -- just like a > > naked-eye discovery of a bright nova -- some people indeed confirmed > > the > > claimed fading (but the others have not). We even received a report > > today > > that Betelgeuse has dramatically faded to a second-magnitude star(!). > > [There is even a rumor that the star may disappear...?] > >
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