Astronomers capture best image of star surface, atmosphere
The image is first map of motion of material on a star other than the sun.
By Amy Wallace | Aug. 23, 2017 at 9:42 AM
Aug. 23 (UPI) -- Astronomers from Chile used the ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer, or VLTI, to map the surface and motion of the bright star Antares.
Antares shines with a strong, red tint in the center of the constellation of Scorpius and is on its way to becoming a supernova.
Astronomers at the Universidad Catolica del Norte in Chile used the VLTI at the Paranal Observatory to map the surface and measure the motions of the surface, providing one of the best images and the first two-dimensional velocity map of a star other than the Sun.
"How stars like Antares lose mass so quickly in the final phase of their evolution has been a problem for over half a century," Keiichi Ohnaka, astronomer at Universidad Catolica del Norte, said in a press release. "The VLTI is the only facility that can directly measure the gas motions in the extended atmosphere of Antares -- a crucial step towards clarifying this problem.The next challenge is to identify what's driving the turbulent motions."
More:
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2017/08/23/Astronomers-capture-best-image-of-star-surface-atmosphere/6711503492589/?utm_source=sec&utm_campaign=sl&utm_medium=1
Paranal Observatory, Chile
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that's amazing!! 