Best Ever Image of a Star's Surface and Atmosphere
ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer and the AMBER instrument...
...have made​ ​the​ ​best​ ​ever​ ​image​ ​of​ ​the surface​ ​of​ ​a​ ​star​ — the huge red supergiant star Antares.
They also measured how different​ ​bits​ ​of the​ ​star​ ​are​ ​moving​ ​—​
the​ ​first​ ​time​ ​this has​ ​been​ ​done​ ​for​ ​any​ ​star​ ​(except​ ​the Sun,​ ​which​ ​is​ ​much​ ​easier!)
This revealed turbulent​ ​gas​ ​in​ ​parts​ ​of Antares’s​ ​extended​ ​atmosphere​ that couldn’t be explained by current theories.
So astronomers say we need​ ​a​ ​new explanation​ for the turbulent gas in the atmospheres of red supergiants.
Transcribed by ESO, translated by —