Free Astronomy Magazine November-December 2024

40 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2024 ASTRO PUBLISHING Astronomers track bubbles on star’s surface in most detailed video yet F or the first time, astronomers have captured images of a star other than the Sun in enough detail to track the motion of bub- bling gas on its surface. The images of the star, R Doradus, were obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Ar- ray (ALMA), a telescope co-owned by the European Southern Observa- tory (ESO), in July and August 2023. They show giant, hot bubbles of gas, 75 times the size of the Sun, appearing on the surface and sink- ing back into the star’s interior faster than expected. by ESO − Bárbara Ferreira T his panel shows three of these real images, taken with ALMA on 18 July, 27 July and 2 August 2023. The giant bubbles — 75 times the size of the Sun — seen on the star’s surface are the result of convection motions inside the star. The size of the Earth’s orbit is shown for scale. [ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/W. Vlemmings et al.]