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adaptiveoptics.org provides news and information for the world-wide adaptive optics community. Contact: webmaster@adaptiveoptics.org. News
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| Garching bei München, Germany – August 5, 2009: ESO has just released a stunning new image of a field of stars towards the constellation of Carina (the Keel). This striking view is ablaze with a flurry of stars of all colours and brightnesses, some of which are seen against a backdrop of clouds of dust and | ||||
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gas.
One unusual star in the middle, HD 87643,
has been extensively studied with several
ESO
telescopes, including the
Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI).
Surrounded by a complex, extended nebula that is the result of previous violent ejections,
the star has been shown to have a companion. Interactions in this double system, surrounded by a dusty disc,
may be the engine fuelling the star’s remarkable nebula.
The new image, showing a very rich field of stars towards the Carina arm of the Milky Way, is centred on the star HD 87643, a member of the exotic class of B[e] stars. It is part of a set of observations that provide astronomers with the best ever picture of a The image was obtained with the Wide Field Imager (WFI) attached to the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the 2400-metre-high La Silla Observatory in Chile. |
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The image shows beautifully the extended nebula of gas and dust that reflects the light from the star.
The central star’s wind appears to have shaped the nebula, leaving bright,
ragged tendrils of gas and dust.
A careful investigation of these features seems to indicate
that there are regular ejections of matter from the star every 15 to 50 years.
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The star HD 87643 is at the center of the extended nebula of dust and gas on the first image,
obtained with the Wide Field Imager on the ESO/MPG 2.2-metre telescope on La Silla.
The central panel is a zoom on the star obtained with NACO on ESO's VLT on Paranal. The last panel zooms further , showing an image obtained with the AMBER instrument making use of three telescopes of the VLTI. The field of view of this last panel is less than one pixel of the first image.
Image: ESO / F. Millour et al.
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A team of astronomers, led by Florentin Millour,
has studied the star HD 87643 in great detail, using several of
ESO’s
telescopes.
Apart from the
WFI,
the team also used
ESO’s
Very Large Telescope (VLT)
at Paranal.
At the VLT, the astronomers used the NACO adaptive optics instrument, allowing them to obtain an image of the star free from the blurring effect of the atmosphere. To probe the object further, the team then obtained an image with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). The sheer range of this set of observations, from the panoramic WFI image to the fine detail of the VLTI observations, corresponds to a zoom-in factor of 60 000 between the two extremes. The astronomers found that HD 87643 has a companion located at about 50 times the Earth–Sun distance and is embedded in a compact dust shell. The two stars probably orbit each other in a period between 20 and 50 years. A dusty disc may also be surrounding the two stars. The presence of the companion could be an explanation for the regular ejection of matter from the star and the formation of the nebula: as the companion moves on a highly elliptical orbit, it would regularly come very close to HD 87643, triggering an ejection. Reference:
F. Millour, O. Chesneau, M. Borges Fernandes, A. Meilland,G. Mars, C. Benoist, E. Thiébaut,
P. Stee, K.-H. Hofmann, F. Baron, J. Young, P. Bendjoya, A. Carciofi, A. Domiciano de Souza,
T. Driebe, S. Jankov, P. Kervella, R.G. Petrov, S. Robbe-Dubois, F. Vakili, L.B.F.M. Waters, and G. Weigelt,
"A binary engine fuelling HD 87643's complex circumstellar environment using AMBER/VLTI imaging," Astron. and Astrophys. (accepted) About ESO:
ESO, the European Southern Observatory,
is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe
and the world's most productive astronomical observatory.
It is supported by 14 countries:
Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy,
the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
ESO
carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation
of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries.
ESO
also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research.
ESO
operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor.
At Paranal,
ESO
operates the
Very Large Telescope,
the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory.
ESO
is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope
ALMA,
the largest astronomical project in existence.
ESO
is currently planning a 42-metre
European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope,
the
E-ELT,
which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".
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Full Press Release
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© 2009 |
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