NODEv5n4-3 1st Direct Image of the Surface of a Star

FIRST DIRECT IMAGE OF THE SURFACE OF A STAR

The first direct image of the surface of a star other than our sun was reported by Andrea Dupree of Harvard-Smithsonian. The surface of the star, Betelgeuse, had been indirectly imaged earlier using speckle interferometry, in which many brief exposures are added up to make a composite image. Dupree's pictures, made with the Hubble Space Telescope, confirm previous suspicions that Betelgeuse's surface exhibits a giant bright spot. According to Dupree, the spot is 2000K warmer that its surrounds and that this might be indicative of a new physical phenomenon at work in some stellar atmospheres.