Canon XSi, modded, Total RGB 1x1 min. ISO 1600
Baader MPCC, Bresser PN 8" OTA at F4, EQ6 mount, guided w/PHD and EQMOD

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse I found the section on Betelgeuse's expected fate, to be most interesting:

It is possible that Betelgeuse will become a supernova, which will be the brightest ever recorded, outshining the Moon in the night sky. Considering its size and age of 8.5 million years, old for its size class, it may explode within the next thousand years. Since its rotational axis is not toward the Earth and also because of its 640 light year distance, Betelgeuse's supernova will not cause a gamma ray burst in the direction of Earth large enough to damage its ecosystems.

Nobel Laureate Charles Townes announced evidence that 15 consecutive years of stellar contraction has been observed by UC Berkeley's Infrared Spatial Interferometer (ISI) atop Mt. Wilson Observatory in Southern California. Reported on June 9, 2009, the star has shrunk 15% since 1993 with an increasing rate. The average speed at which the radius of the star is shrinking over the last 15 years is approximately 210–219 m/s (470–490 mph).

According to the university, Betelgeuse's radius is about 5.5 A.U.s, and the star's radius has shrunk by a distance equal to half an astronomical unit, or about the orbit of Venus.Some theorists have speculated that this behavior is expected for a star at the beginning of the gravitational collapse at the end of its life.[citation needed] The mass of Betelgeuse puts it in range to become a neutron star or possibly a black hole