The unusual double star SS Leporis

These super-sharp images of the unusual vampire double star system SS Leporis were created from observations made with the VLT Interferometer at ESO’s Paranal Observatory using the PIONIER instrument. The system consists of a red giant star orbiting a hotter companion.

The remarkable image sharpness — 50 times sharper than those from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope — not only allows the stars to be clearly separated and their orbital motion followed, but also allowed the size of the red giant to be measured more accurately than ever before. The system consists of a red giant star orbiting a hotter companion.

Note that the stars have been artificially coloured to match their known temperatures.

Källa:

ESO/PIONIER/IPAG

Om bilden

ID:eso1148a
Typ:Kollage
Publiceringsdatum:7 december 2011 12:00
Relaterade pressmeddelanden:eso1148
Storlek:1048 x 484 px

Om objektet

Namn:SS Lep
Typ:Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Binary
Kategori:Stars

Bildformat

Originalstorlek
86,1 kB
Stor jpeg
34,7 kB
Skärmstor jpeg
31,2 kB