Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) tagged posts

Astrophysics: A direct view of Star/Disk Interactions

Artist’s impression of the streams of hot gas that build up stars. Matter from the surrounding protoplanetary disk, the birthplace of planets, is channeled onto the stellar surface by magnetic fields shocking the surface at supersonic velocity (Copyright: Mark A. Garlick).

A team including researchers from the Institute for Astrophysics of the University of Cologne has for the first time directly observed the columns of matter that build up newborn stars. This was observed in the young star TW Hydrae system located approximately 163 light years from Earth. This result was obtained with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) and its GRAVITY instrument of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile...

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Sharpest View ever of Dusty Disc around Aging Star

The Very Large Telescope Interferometer at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile has obtained the sharpest view ever of the dusty disc around the close pair of aging stars IRAS 08544-4431. For the first time such discs can be compared to the discs around young stars -- and they look surprisingly similar. It is even possible that a disc appearing at the end of a star's life might also create a second generation of planets. The inset shows the VLTI reconstructed image, with the brighter central star removed. The background view shows the surroundings of this star in the constellation of Vela (The Sails). Credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin

The Very Large Telescope Interferometer at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile has obtained the sharpest view ever of the dusty disc around the close pair of aging stars IRAS 08544-4431. For the first time such discs can be compared to the discs around young stars — and they look surprisingly similar. It is even possible that a disc appearing at the end of a star’s life might also create a second generation of planets. The inset shows the VLTI reconstructed image, with the brighter central star removed. The background view shows the surroundings of this star in the constellation of Vela (The Sails). Credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin

As they approach the ends of their lives many stars develop stable discs of gas and dust around them...

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