Does dimming of Betelgeuse reveal nebula

[maxchess]

This may be an artifact, but I took this shot of the Orion Constellation from the Canary Islands and it showed a small nebula around Beteleguse. Do you think this is real? The shot was taken with a dual band filter which brings out the Ha.  I initially assumed it was a camera artifact, but I took more shots with different camera positions and it was still there.  There are some on-line articles about such a nebula. My first reaction was to edit it out, but I think it might be real and only visible because Beteleguse has dimmed by over 50%.  What do you think?

Max

[dobblob]

Definitely an artifact. It would be large and very noticeable if real , no matter how much Betelgeuse has dimmed.

It COULD of course be real but with all the attention BG is garnering I can't believe the community is missing it.

I have seen some hi-res Hubble (I think) images showing a bow shock wave ahead of BG but far too small to be seen in our wimpy scopes.

[maxchess]

You are probably right, but a Nebula Around Betelgeuse has been reported in the past  https://phys.org/news/2011-06-flames-betelgeuse.html

Edited February 7, 2020 by maxchess
Mistake

[tico]

A fantastic image, no doubt!

Thanks.

[CraigT82]

That article states the FoV of the image with the nebula is 5x5 arc secs... so the nebula itself probably 2.5x2.5 arc secs.  Safe to say that would not be visible in your image.  It also states that the nebula cant be seen in visible wavelengths.

Sorry but have to agree that it's an artifact in your image!