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A close look at Betelgeuse
Image of the supergiant star Betelgeuse obtained with the NACO adaptive optics instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. The use of NACO combined with a so-called “lucky imaging” technique, allowed the astronomers to obtain the sharpest ever image of Betelgeuse, even with Earth’s turbulent, image-distorting atmosphere in the way. The resolution is as fine as 37 milliarcseconds, which is roughly the size of a tennis ball on the International Space Station (ISS), as seen from the ground. The image is based on data obtained in the near-infrared, through different filters. The field of view is about half an arcsecond wide, North is up, East is left.
Credit:
ESO and P. Kervella
About the Image
| Id: | eso0927b |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 29 July 2009 |
| Related releases: | eso0927 |
| Size: | 1230 x 1230 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Betelgeuse |
| Type: | • Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Red Giant • Stars |
| Distance: | 650 light years |
Colours & filters
| Band | Telescope |
| Infrared | Very Large Telescope NACO |
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