I posted something similar ages ago but this is pretty cool, hopefully we shall see a super nova in our life time 
BETELGEUSE (Alpha Orionis, the bright yellow/red giant in the upper left). The great star Betelgeuse is one of two that dominate mighty Orion of northern winter, the other Rigel, the pair also respectively called Alpha and Beta Orionis.
Betelgeuse is clearly a highly evolved star, one whose central hydrogen fuel supply has run out. As a result, the core has contracted into a hot dense state, and the outer portions swelled outward. We do not really know the star's condition at the moment, but the odds are that it is now in the process of fusing helium into carbon and oxygen in its core.
From theory, its initial mass should have fallen somewhere around 18 or 19 times that of the Sun. Starting life as hot, blue, class O star only around 10 million years ago, Betelgeuse will fuse elements through neon, magnesium, sodium, and silicon all the way to iron. The core will then collapse, causing the star to blow up as a supernova, most likely leaving a compact neutron star about the size of a small town behind. If it were to explode today, it would become as bright as a gibbous Moon, and would cast strong shadows on the ground, and would be seen easily in full daylight.
The star's motion shows it to be a runaway member of the Orion OB1 association, particularly the subgroup that involves the stars up and to the right of the Belt.
Of course, being 570 or so light years away, this event might be long over, we just have to wait to see it 
