3 Cosmic Images from 2017: No. 1

One year, so much science. Here's the first of three spectacular, but less widely seen, images from the near and far universe

By Caleb A. Scharf on December 21, 2017

3 Cosmic Images from 2017: No. 1 — Credit: ESO, K. Ohnaka

Stars are points of light, right? Not if you have a big enough telescope and some serious technology on hand. The limited resolving power of astronomical instruments usually means that we don't get to see any details on objects like distant stars. But just like our sun, these stellar furnaces can have complex and variable structures visible in their outer layers.

ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer has been able to construct the best image yet of another star - Antares, a red supergiant about 12 times the mass of the Sun, 680 time the solar radius, and about 550 light years away. By combining light from multiple telescopes the effective diameter of the instrument was boosted to about 200 meters, drastically improving the image resolution.

And this inspired the following artist's impression of what Antares might look like if you were up very close and personal.

The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

Caleb A. Scharf

Dr. Caleb A. Scharf is Director of Astrobiology at Columbia University,and has an international reputation as a research astrophysicist, and as a lecturer to college and public audiences. The UK's Guardian newspaper has listed his blog Life, Unbounded, as one of their "hottest science blogs," while an editor at Seed Magazine called it "phenomenal.Informed, fresh, and thoughtful." Scharf is author and co-author of more than 100 scientific research articles in astronomy and astrophysics. His work has been featured in publications such as New Scientist, Scientific American, Science News, Cosmos Magazine, Physics Today, and National Geographic, as well as online at sites like Space.com and Physorg.com. His textbook for undergraduate and graduate students, Extrasolar Planets and Astrobiology, won the 2012 Chambliss Prize of the AAS. His articles and reviews have appeared in such prestigious publications as Science, Nature, The Astrophysical Journal, and Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Dr. Scharf is a regular keynote speaker at academic meetings, such as for the American Physical Society, museums, and both public and private venues, including the American Museum of Natural History and the Rubin Museum of Art in New York. He has been a guest on "Krulwich on Science" at NPR, William Shatner's "Weird or What?" and has served as a consultant to editors and producers at National Geographic Magazine, The Science Channel, The Discovery Channel, and The New York Times.