Collection:
NASA Hubble Space Telescope Collection Collection NASA Hubble Space Telescope Collection Collection
Title:
Hubble Space Telescope Captures First Direct Image of a Star Title Hubble Space Telescope Captures First Direct Image of a Star Title
Object Name:
Alpha Orionis Object_Name Alpha Orionis Object Name
Object Name:
Betelgeuse Object_Name Betelgeuse Object Name
General Information:
What is an American Astronomical Society Meeting release? A major news announcement issued at an American Astronomical Society meeting, the premier astronomy conference. This is the first direct image of a star other than the Sun. Called Alpha Orionis, or Betelgeuse, the star is a red super giant, a Sun-like star nearing the end of its life. The Hubble picture reveals a huge ultraviolet atmosphere with a mysterious hot spot on the stellar behemoth's surface. The enormous bright spot, twice the diameter of the Earth's orbit, is at least 2,000 degrees Kelvin hotter than the star's surface. General_Information What is an American Astronomical Society Meeting release? A major news announcement issued at an American Astronomical Society meeting, the premier astronomy conference. This is the first direct image of a star other than the Sun. Called Alpha Orionis, or Betelgeuse, the star is a red super giant, a Sun-like star nearing the end of its life. The Hubble picture reveals a huge ultraviolet atmosphere with a mysterious hot spot on the stellar behemoth's surface. The enormous bright spot, twice the diameter of the Earth's orbit, is at least 2,000 degrees Kelvin hotter than the star's surface. General Information
Acknowledgement:
Credit: Andrea Dupree (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), Ronald Gilliland (STScI [ http://www.stsci.ed…]), NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/] and ESA [ http://spacetelesco…] Acknowledgement Credit: Andrea Dupree (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), Ronald Gilliland (STScI [ http://www.stsci.ed…]), NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/] and ESA [ http://spacetelesco…] Acknowledgement
Fast Facts:
Technical facts about this news release: Back to entire collection [ http://hubblesite.o…] Next release [ http://hubblesite.o…] Previous release [ http://hubblesite.o…] Fast_Facts Technical facts about this news release: Back to entire collection [ http://hubblesite.o…] Next release [ http://hubblesite.o…] Previous release [ http://hubblesite.o…] Fast Facts
note:
Image Type:: Astronomical/Illustr ation note Image Type:: Astronomical/Illustr ation note
note:
Release Date:December 10, 1996 12:00 AM (EST) note Release Date:December 10, 1996 12:00 AM (EST) note
note:
News Release Number:: STScI-1996-04a note News Release Number:: STScI-1996-04a note
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Title:Hubble Space Telescope Captures First Direct Image of a Star note Title:Hubble Space Telescope Captures First Direct Image of a Star note
note:
Description: This is the first direct image of a star other than the Sun, made with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Called Alpha Orionis, or Betelgeuse, it is a red supergiant star marking the shoulder of the winter constellation Orion the Hunter (diagram at right). The Hubble image reveals a huge ultraviolet atmosphere with a mysterious hot spot on the stellar behemoth's surface. The enormous bright spot, twice the diameter of the Earth's orbit, is at least 2,000 Kelvin degrees hotter than the surface of the star. The image suggests that a totally new physical phenomenon may be affecting the atmospheres of some stars. Follow-up observations will be needed to help astronomers understand whether the spot is linked to oscillations previously detected in the giant star, or whether it moves systematically across the star's surface under the grip of powerful magnetic fields. The observations were made by Andrea Dupree of the Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, MA, and Ronald Gilliland of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD, who announced their discovery today at the 187th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in San Antonio, Texas. The image was taken in ultraviolet light with the Faint Object Camera on March 3, 1995. Hubble can resolve the star even though the apparent size is 20,000 times smaller than the width of the full Moon — roughly equivalent to being able to resolve a car's headlights at a distance of 6,000 miles. Betelgeuse is so huge that, if it replaced the Sun at the center of our Solar System, its outer atmosphere would extend past the orbit of Jupiter (scale at lower left). note Description: This is the first direct image of a star other than the Sun, made with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Called Alpha Orionis, or Betelgeuse, it is a red supergiant star marking the shoulder of the winter constellation Orion the Hunter (diagram at right). The Hubble image reveals a huge ultraviolet atmosphere with a mysterious hot spot on the stellar behemoth's surface. The enormous bright spot, twice the diameter of the Earth's orbit, is at least 2,000 Kelvin degrees hotter than the surface of the star. The image suggests that a totally new physical phenomenon may be affecting the atmospheres of some stars. Follow-up observations will be needed to help astronomers understand whether the spot is linked to oscillations previously detected in the giant star, or whether it moves systematically across the star's surface under the grip of powerful magnetic fields. The observations were made by Andrea Dupree of the Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, MA, and Ronald Gilliland of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD, who announced their discovery today at the 187th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in San Antonio, Texas. The image was taken in ultraviolet light with the Faint Object Camera on March 3, 1995. Hubble can resolve the star even though the apparent size is 20,000 times smaller than the width of the full Moon — roughly equivalent to being able to resolve a car's headlights at a distance of 6,000 miles. Betelgeuse is so huge that, if it replaced the Sun at the center of our Solar System, its outer atmosphere would extend past the orbit of Jupiter (scale at lower left). note
facet_what:
Jupiter facet_what Jupiter facet_what
facet_what:
Sun facet_what Sun facet_what
facet_what:
Earth facet_what Earth facet_what
facet_what:
Orion facet_what Orion facet_what
facet_what:
Faint Object Camera facet_what Faint Object Camera facet_what
facet_what:
Moon facet_what Moon facet_what
facet_what:
BETELGEUSE facet_what BETELGEUSE facet_what
facet_what:
Hubble Space Telescope (HST) facet_what Hubble Space Telescope (HST) facet_what
facet_where:
Jupiter facet_where Jupiter facet_where
facet_where:
Texas facet_where Texas facet_where
facet_when:
December 10, 1996 facet_when December 10, 1996 facet_when
facet_when:
March 3, 1995 facet_when March 3, 1995 facet_when
facet_when_year:
1996 facet_when_year 1996 facet_when_year
facet_when_year:
1995 facet_when_year 1995 facet_when_year
UID:
SPD-HUBBLE-STScI-199 6-04a UID SPD-HUBBLE-STScI-199 6-04a UID
original url:
http://hubblesite.o… original_url http://hubblesite.o… original url
Release Date:
December 10, 1996 12:00 AM (EST) Release_Date December 10, 1996 12:00 AM (EST) Release Date

Hubble Space Telescope Captures First Direct Image of a Star

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Hubble Space Telescope Captures First Direct Image of a Star