The star T Leporis as seen with VLTI

This image from ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer is one of the sharpest colour images ever made. It shows the Mira-like star T Leporis in great detail. The central disc is the surface of the star, which is surrounded by a spherical shell of molecular material expelled from the star. In order to appreciate the feat of such measurement, one should realize that the star appears, on the sky, as small as a two-storey house on the Moon. The resolution of the image is about 4 milli-arcseconds.
In this image, obtained by combining hundreds of interferometric measurements, the blue channel includes infrared light from 1.4 to 1.6 micrometres, the green, from 1.6 to 1.75 micrometres, and the red, from 1.75 to 1.9 micrometres. In the green channel, the molecular envelope is thinner, and appears as a thin ring around the star.

Credit:

ESO/J.-B. Le Bouquin et al.

About the Image

Id:eso0906a
Type:Observation
Release date:18 February 2009
Related releases:eso0906
Size:1000 x 1000 px

About the Object

Name:T Leporis
Type:Milky Way : Star : Type : Variable
Distance:500 light years
Category:Stars

Image Formats

Large JPEG
38.9 KB
Screensize JPEG
34.3 KB

Wallpapers

1024x768
35.0 KB
1280x1024
46.0 KB
1600x1200
60.6 KB
1920x1200
72.7 KB
2048x1536
85.9 KB

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Infrared
Near-IR
1.5 μmVery Large Telescope
AMBER
Infrared
Near-IR
1.675 μmVery Large Telescope
AMBER
Infrared
Near-IR
1.825 μmVery Large Telescope
AMBER