Back in October of 2019, astronomers noticed something strange about the star that forms the “shoulder” of the constellation Orion, Betelgeuse.

Betelgeuse is a young star — less than 10 million years old — and it’s expected to go supernova within the next 100,000 years.

Stars like Betelgeuse can both flare and dim, but the speed of the dimming led some to theorize that the star might be on the verge of going supernova.

When convection on the surface of the star formed a temporary cold patch, the gas cooled enough to form into a large cloud, shielding Betelgeuse from our field of view.

Unfortunately, Betelgeuse does not look as though it’s going to go supernova at any point in the near future.

A supernova from a star that large would likely be visible for weeks in the daytime and could put on a light show to rival some of the known supernovas in antiquity.