{"id":14942,"date":"2017-09-20T06:38:38","date_gmt":"2017-09-20T10:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14942"},"modified":"2017-09-19T23:58:06","modified_gmt":"2017-09-20T03:58:06","slug":"eso-ageing-star-blows-off-smoky-bubble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14942","title":{"rendered":"ESO: “Ageing star blows off smoky bubble”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest report from the\u00a0ESO<\/a> (European Southern Observatory)<\/p>\n

Ageing Star Blows Off Smoky Bubble<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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This ALMA image reveals much finer structure in the U Antliae shell than has previously been possible. Around 2700 years ago, U Antliae went through a short period of rapid mass loss. During this period of only a few hundred years, the material making up the shell seen in the new ALMA data was ejected at high speed. Examination of this shell in further detail also shows some evidence of thin, wispy clouds known as filamentary substructures. [Larger images<\/a>]<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>Astronomers have used ALMA to capture a strikingly beautiful view of a delicate bubble of expelled material around the exotic red star U Antliae. These observations will help astronomers to better understand how stars evolve during the later stages of their life-cycles.<\/p>\n

In the faint southern constellation of\u00a0Antlia (The Air Pump)<\/a>\u00a0the careful observer with binoculars will spot a very red star, which varies slightly in brightness from week to week. This very unusual star is called\u00a0U Antliae<\/a>\u00a0and new observations with the\u00a0Atacama Large Millimeter\/submillimeter Array<\/a>\u00a0(ALMA) are revealing a remarkably thin spherical shell around it.<\/p>\n