R Aquarii peculiar stellar relationship captured by SPHERE

While testing a new subsystem on the SPHERE planet-hunting instrument on ESO’s Very Large telescope, astronomers were able to capture dramatic details of the turbulent stellar relationship in the binary star R Aquarii with unprecedented clarity — even compared to observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

This image is from the SPHERE/ZIMPOL observations of R Aquarii, and shows the binary star itself, as well as the jets of material spewing from the stellar couple.

Credit:

ESO/Schmid et al.

About the Image

Id:eso1840a
Type:Observation
Release date:12 December 2018, 14:00
Related releases:eso1840
Size:1890 x 1890 px

About the Object

Name:R Aquarii
Type:Milky Way : Star : Type : Variable
Constellation:Aquarius
Category:Stars

Image Formats

Large JPEG
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Screensize JPEG
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Coordinates

Position (RA):23 43 49.51
Position (Dec):-15° 17' 4.72"
Field of view:0.06 x 0.06 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 2.1° left of vertical

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Optical
H-alpha
644 nmVery Large Telescope
SPHERE