This orange blob shows the nearby star Betelgeuse, as seen by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). This is the first time that ALMA has ever observed the surface of a star and this first attempt has resulted in the highest-resolution image of Betelgeuse available.
Betelgeuse is one of the largest stars currently known — with a radius around 1400 times larger than the Sun’s in the millimeter continuum. About 600 light-years away in the constellation of Orion (The Hunter), the red supergiant burns brightly, causing it to have only a short life expectancy. The star is just about eight million years old, but is already on the verge of becoming a supernova. When that happens, the resulting explosion will be visible from Earth, even in broad daylight.
The star has been observed in many other wavelengths, particularly in the visible, infrared, and ultraviolet. Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope astronomers discovered a vast plume of gas almost as large as our Solar System. Astronomers have also found a gigantic bubble that boils away on Betelgeuse’s surface. These features help to explain how the star is shedding gas and dust at tremendous rates (eso0927, eso1121). In this picture, ALMA observes the hot gas of the lower chromosphere of Betelgeuse at sub-millimeter wavelengths — where localised increased temperatures explain why it is not symmetric. Scientifically, ALMA can help us to understand the extended atmospheres of these hot, blazing stars.
northernhemisphere on June 26th, 2017 at 12:03 UTC »
If this is over 643 ight years away, how come we haven't seen awesome images of Alpha Centauri, only 4.4 light years away? There are good Hubble images but nothing like this.
Gorflub on June 26th, 2017 at 12:02 UTC »
God, I hope that goes supernova in my lifetime.
Dinitrogen_Tetroxide on June 26th, 2017 at 08:59 UTC »
This picture is made in sub-millimeter wavelengths. On the other hand that picture is still my favourite one of the Betelgeuse, made in infrared. It's quite an incredible star.