Sharpest Picture Of A Dust Disc Around An Elderly Star Snapped

Space





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The image was taken by the Very Large Telescope in Chile. ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2/Davide De Martin

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has obtained the sharpest ever image of an old star’s disc, allowing researchers to understand better this mysterious phase in a star’s life.

The team, led by Michel Hillen and Hans Van Winckel from the Instituut Voor Sterrenkunde, was able to snap the ageing double star IRAS 08544-4431 located about 4,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Vela. The image reveals for the first time a well-defined ring extending far from the two stars, one of which is thought to be a red giant.