Sharpest Image Ever of R136a1, Largest Known Star
noirlab_noirlab2220a August 18th, 2022
Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURAAcknowledgment: Image processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab) & D. de Martin (NSF NOIRLab)
Nestled in the center of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud is the largest star yet discovered. With the help of the Zorro imager and the power of the 8.1-meter Gemini South telescope in Chile, astronomers have produced the sharpest image ever of this star. This new image challenges our understanding of the most massive stars and suggests that they may not be as massive as previously thought.
Provider: NOIRLab
Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noirlab2220a/
Curator: NSF's NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ, USA
Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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Full Size Image
(1024 x 1024)
Source TIFF (6.02 MB)
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- 320 x 320 (23.1 KB)
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- 500 x 500 (30.1 KB)
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Image Details
Position Details
Color Mapping
- ID
- noirlab2220a
- Subject Category
- Subject Name
- R136a
- Credits
- International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURAAcknowledgment: Image processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab) & D. de Martin (NSF NOIRLab)
- Release Date
- 2022-08-18T13:00:00
- Lightyears
- Redshift
- Reference Url
- https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noirlab2220a/
- Type
- Observation
- Image Quality
- Distance Notes
- Facility
- Gemini South, Gemini South, Gemini South, Gemini South
- Instrument
- Zorro, Zorro, Zorro, Zorro
- Color Assignment
- Red, Orange, Green, Blue
- Band
- Optical, Optical, Optical, Optical
- Bandpass
- z, i, r, b
- Central Wavelength
- 832, 716, 562, 466
- Start Time
- Integration Time
- Dataset ID
- None, None, None, None
- Notes
- Coordinate Frame
- ICRS
- Equinox
- J2000
- Reference Value
- 84.6765696206, -69.1007546001
- Reference Dimension
- 1024.0, 1024.0
- Reference Pixel
- 512.0, 512.0
- Scale
- -6.91096610489e-07, 6.91096610489e-07
- Rotation
- -90.759999999999721
- Coordinate System Projection:
- TAN
- Quality
- Full
- FITS Header
- Notes
- Creator (Curator)
- NSF's NOIRLab
- URL
- https://noirlab.edu
- Name
- Telephone
- Address
- 950 North Cherry Ave.
- City
- Tucson
- State/Province
- AZ
- Postal Code
- 85719
- Country
- USA
- Rights
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
- Publisher
- NSF's NOIRLab
- Publisher ID
- noirlab
- Resource ID
- noirlab2220a
- Resource URL
- http://noirlab.edu/public/media/archives/images/original/noirlab2220a.tif
- Related Resources
- Metadata Date
- 2022-08-17T02:30:42+02:00
- Metadata Version
- 1.1
Detailed color mapping information coming soon...
