Grande Escurecimento de Betelgeuse em alta resolução
A Grande Diminuição de Brilho de Betelgeuse, quando a estrela supergigante vermelha escureceu visivelmente no final de 2019 e no início de 2020, intrigou e fascinou o mundo na altura da sua ocorrência. Houve quem pensasse que a estrela, que está a chegar ao fim da sua vida, estivesse prestes a explodir sob a forma de supernova. Nesta brilhante Fotografia da Semana, os astrónomos lançaram uma nova luz sobre a forma como Betelgeuse se tornou mais escura, confirmando que este evento não foi, afinal, um precursor de uma supernova.
A fotografia mostra Betelgeuse em Dezembro de 2018, Fevereiro de 2020 e Dezembro de 2020, capturando assim a famosa estrela antes, durante e depois do evento de desvanecimento do seu brilho. Uma equipa liderada por Julien Drevon, Florentin Millour e Pierre Cruzalèbes da Université Côte d'Azur (França) utilizou o instrumento infravermelho MATISSE, montado no Interferómetro do Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) do ESO para obter imagens de alta resolução da estrela. As imagens de cima mostram a sua "superfície" ou fotosfera, enquanto as de baixo mostram o monóxido de silício, uma molécula que atua como "semente" para formar grãos de poeira.
Um olhar mais atento notará que a fotosfera de Betelgeuse se tornou mais brilhante durante o chamado evento de escurecimento. Sabemos agora que estava a ser produzida poeira durante esta altura, o que fez com que a estrela nos parecesse mais ténue em luz visível, mas mais brilhante para o MATISSE, uma vez que a poeira brilha no infravermelho. Além disso, as alterações na estrutura da fotosfera e do monóxido de silício são consistentes tanto com a formação de um ponto frio na superfície da estrela como com a ejeção de uma nuvem de poeira.
O tamanho de Betelgeuse no céu é semelhante ao de uma moeda de 1 euro vista a 100 km de distância. O VLTI combina a luz de vários telescópios para criar um telescópio "virtual" muito maior, capaz de discernir pequenas estruturas em Betelgeuse. Podemos assim observar em pormenor como esta estrela massiva envelhece e evolui.
Créditos:ESO/J. Drevon et al.
Sobre a imagem
| Id: | potw2343a |
| Língua: | pt |
| Tipo: | Montagem |
| Data de divulgação: | 23 de Outubro de 2023 às 06:00 |
| Tamanho: | 2632 x 1912 px |
Sobre o objeto
| Nome: | Betelgeuse |
| Tipo: | Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Red Supergiant |
Formatos de imagens
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