Zooming in on the unusual double star SS Leporis

This zoom sequence starts with a broad view of the spectacular Milky Way. We close in on the small constellation of Lepus (The Hare), next to the familiar figure of Orion (The Hunter) and focus on the star, SS Leporis, which is faintly visible to the unaided eye. The final stage takes an extraordinarily close look at this unusual double star using the VLT Interferometer at ESO’s Paranal Observatory. These remarkably sharp images — 50 times sharper than those from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope — not only allow astronomers to watch the two stars in orbit around each other, but also show the larger of the two as a clear disc.

Crediti:

ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2/Nick Risinger (skysurvey.org)/PIONIER/IPAG. Music: John Dyson (from the album Moonwind)

A proposito del video

Identificazione:eso1148a
Data di pubblicazione:Mercoledì 07 Dicembre 2011 12:00
Notizie relative:eso1148
Durata:01 m 15 s
Frame rate:30 fps

A proposito delll'oggetto

Categoria:Stars

HD


Grande

Grande QT
12,0 MB

Medio

Podcast Video
9,2 MB
MPEG-1 medio
29,1 MB
Flash medio
10,7 MB

Piccolo

Flash piccolo
5,2 MB
QT piccolo
3,1 MB

For Broadcasters