system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Astronomy] What is happening with Betelgeuse – and how "unique" is what we are currently observing?

Apparently Betelgeuse is about to go supernova – or at least if you believe what non-science media has to say about it. The star has dimmed by a factor of two in the span of two months, and that's all the general public knows (though we don't even know what "dimmed by a factor of two" does indeed mean). What we don't know is whether that's even newsworthy.

So my general question is – just what is happening to Betelgeuse?

• How significant is the dimming? What does "dimmed by a factor of two" mean in the context of Betelgeuse? Can you put that into perspective?

• From the perspective of its giant size, how significant is the speed — the star went so dim *so quickly*, effectively under two months?


• We don't have historical data that goes beyond 300 years back. How likely is the possibility Betelgeuse has been dimmer in the past?

• Is this process observable with naked eye by the general public?

And, most importantly:

• Apart from "about to go Supernova", what might be some processes that can explain the change?
gpt
“Dimmed by a factor of 2” just means it is now half as bright as it was. 

Bear in mind that the star could go supernova “immediately”, meaning any time in the next 10,000 years or so. Unfortunately the odds of that happening in our lifetimes are slim.