Starlight around the star R Doradus (IMAGE)
Caption
Dust clouds reflect starlight around the star R Doradus. As it nears the end of its life, the star is shedding its outer layers, forming clouds of gas and dust around it (shown here in pink and yellow). Scientists have long believed that starlight illuminating these clouds could power a stellar wind. But the colour of the light around the star reflected by dust, , shows that the dust grains are too small to explain the star’s wind. The image was taken in polarised visible light with VLT/SPHERE. In the centre in yellow and orange, we see ALMA’s image showing the surface of the star.
Credit
ESO/T. Schirmer/T. Khouri; ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)
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License
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