{"id":199273,"date":"2024-12-20T16:27:12","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T16:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/20\/50-years-ago-astronomers-saw-the-surface-of-a-distant-star-for-the-first-time\/"},"modified":"2024-12-20T16:27:13","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T16:27:13","slug":"50-years-ago-astronomers-saw-the-surface-of-a-distant-star-for-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/20\/50-years-ago-astronomers-saw-the-surface-of-a-distant-star-for-the-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"50 years ago, astronomers saw the surface of a distant star for the first time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Surface features of a distant star<\/strong> \u2014 Science News<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>December 21, 1974 & December 28, 1974<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to high-speed photography and modern data processing, [astronomers] are beginning to be able to suppress the effects of [a star] twinkling\u2026. The star involved is one of the most prominent in the sky, big, red Betelgeuse.\u2026 What was found are large-scale hot and cold regions, that may be convection currents in the star\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Update<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Powerful ground- and space-based telescopes have since let scientists observe the surfaces of giant stars in the Milky Way, including Betelgeuse and R Doradus, in even greater detail. Those observations confirmed that surface spots are related to convection<\/a>, bubbles of hot and cold gas rising and sinking in a star\u2019s atmosphere (SN: 09\/16\/24<\/em>). In November, scientists reported the first close-up image of a star outside of our galaxy<\/a> (SN: 11\/21\/24<\/em>). Using the Very Large Telescope in Chile, astronomers spotted a star puffing out dust and gas in the Large Magellanic Cloud\u2009\u2014\u2009a small galaxy that orbits our own. That suggests the star, named WOH G64, may be dying.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t\t\n