Disc around aged star (model)

Astronomers have used ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer and its razor sharp eyes to discover a reservoir of dust trapped into a disc that surrounds an elderly star. Here, model images of the disc of dust around the aged star, V390 Velorum, as inferred from observations taken with ESO's powerful interferometric instruments, Astronomical Multi-BEam combineR (AMBER) and MID-infrared Interferometric instrument (MIDI), at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer, are shown at two different wavelengths (2 microns, left panel; 10 microns, right panel). The observations reveal a disc with a much puffed-up inner rim, extending from 9 Astronomical Units to several hundreds of AU. The giant star, whose position is indicated by the cross in the images, is 5000 times as bright as our Sun and is located 2,600 light-years away from Earth. The brightest region is the inner wall on the far side.

Crédit:

ESO

À propos de l'image

Identification:eso0743a
Type:Observation
Date de publication:27 septembre 2007
Communiqués de presse en rapport:eso0743
Taille:2138 x 848 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:V390 Velorum
Type:Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Red Giant
Catégorie:Stars

Image Formats

Grand JPEG
115,4 Kio

Fonds d'écran

1024x768
53,9 Kio
1280x1024
73,7 Kio
1600x1200
95,4 Kio
1920x1200
116,1 Kio
2048x1536
131,0 Kio

Couleurs & filtres

DomaineLongueur d'ondeTélescope
Infrarouge
Near-IR
2.0 μmVery Large Telescope
AMBER
Infrarouge
Mid-IR
10 μmVery Large Telescope
MIDI