The disc around IRAS 13481-6124

Astronomers have been able to obtain the first image of a dusty disc closely encircling a massive baby star, providing direct evidence that massive stars do form in the same way as their smaller brethren —and closing an enduring debate.In order to discover and understand the properties of this disc, the astronomers employed ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). By combining the light from three of the VLTI’s 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes with the AMBER instrument, this facility allows astronomers to see details equivalent to those a telescope with a mirror of 85 metres in diameter would see. The resulting resolution is about 2.4 milliarcseconds, which is equivalent to picking out the head of a screw on the International Space Station.

Crédit:

ESO/S. Kraus

À propos de l'image

Identification:eso1029b
Type:Observation
Date de publication:14 juillet 2010 19:00
Communiqués de presse en rapport:eso1029
Taille:800 x 800 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:IRAS 13481-6124
Type:Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Disk
Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Young Stellar Object
Distance:10000 années lumière
Catégorie:Stars

Formats des images

Grand JPEG
25,6 Kio

Zoomable


Fonds d'écran

1024x768
30,5 Kio
1280x1024
41,2 Kio
1600x1200
54,9 Kio
1920x1200
66,3 Kio
2048x1536
79,1 Kio

Couleurs & filtres

DomaineTélescope
InfrarougeVery Large Telescope
AMBER