To get a size comparison here (Betelgeuse is about 80% the size of VV Cephei A from the previous post), I found this neat pair of images:
(1) Here is what our Sun would look like from about 8 times the distance we normally see it - roughly 750,000,000 miles away (well beyond Jupiter's orbit):

(2) And here is what Betelgeuse would look like from the same distance away:

Dang!


I thought there was interesting stuff in the Wikipedia entry for Betelgeuse, especially the section titled: The Star's Future.