We calculate the production of ultra-light axion-like particles (ALPs) in a nearby supernova progenitor. Once produced, ALPs escape from the star and a part of them is converted into photons during propagation in the Galactic magnetic field. It is found that the MeV photon flux that reaches Earth may be detectable by gamma ray telescopes for ALPs lighter than ~1 neV when Betelgeuse undergoes oxygen and silicon burning. (Non-)detection of gamma rays from a supernova progenitor with next-generation gamma ray telescopes just after pre-supernova neutrino alerts would lead to an independent constraint on ALP parameters as stringent as a SN 1987A limit.
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