Betelgeuse ... in all its splendour

This is a July 29, 2009 artist's impression from University of Western Ontarrio of the supergiant star Betelgeuse, the second brightest star in the constellation of Orion, a red supergiant, one of the biggest stars known, and almost 1,000 times larger than our Sun. from the Ottawa Citizen: Betelgeuse Thanks to about half a million photographs, researchers now have a clearer picture of one of the universe's most prominent known stars. Two groups of astronomers at the European Southern Observatory — including Dr. Jan Cami at the University of Western Ontario's Department of Physics and Astronomy — have gained some insight into Betelgeuse, the second brightest star in the Orion constellation and one of the biggest known stars. It is nearly 1,000 times larger than the Sun.