cohort. n. 1. (Military) one of the ten units of between 300 and 600 men in an ancient Roman Legion. 2. any band of warriors or associates: the cohorts of Satan. 3.
As an early M-type supergiant, Betelgeuse is one of the largest, most luminous and yet one of the most ethereal stars known. A radius of 5.5 AU is roughly 7003118000000000000â 1180 times the radius of the Sunâable to contain over 2 quadrillion Earths (2.15 Ã 1015) or more than 1.6 billion (1.65 Ã 109) Suns.
We can, and there are even likely candidates. Thereâs Betelgeuse, the red supergiant star located in the constellation of Orion, only 640 light-years from Earth. Betelgeuse is massive, and itâs only been around for 10 million years. It will likely explode within a million years. Which, in astronomical time, is just before lunch. Another candidate is Eta Carinae, located about 8,000 light years from us. This blue supergiant has roughly 120 times the mass of the Sun, and itâs ready to explode in the next few hundred thousand years. Which, from the Universeâs perspective is any moment now.