The unusual double star SS Leporis

These super-sharp images of the unusual vampire double star system SS Leporis were created from observations made with the VLT Interferometer at ESO’s Paranal Observatory using the PIONIER instrument. The system consists of a red giant star orbiting a hotter companion.

The remarkable image sharpness — 50 times sharper than those from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope — not only allows the stars to be clearly separated and their orbital motion followed, but also allowed the size of the red giant to be measured more accurately than ever before. The system consists of a red giant star orbiting a hotter companion.

Note that the stars have been artificially coloured to match their known temperatures.

Crediti:

ESO/PIONIER/IPAG

Riguardo l'immagine

Identificazione:eso1148a
Tipo:Collage
Data di rilascio:Mercoledì 07 Dicembre 2011 12:00
Notizie relative:eso1148
Grandezza:1048 x 484 px

Riguardo all'oggetto

Nome:SS Lep
Tipo:Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Binary
Categoria:Stars

Formati delle immagini

JPEG grande
34,7 KB