Clearest pictures of stars

[jeffhannan]

Hi,<br /><br />I read this article today, but couldn't find a thread on it here...<br />http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6975961.stm<br /><br />I looked at the pics, particularly the second one, and thought - wow, great pictures of stars!<br /><br />They look like suns, with the crystal clear round discs. But surely that isn't what we're seeing? If I have followed it up correctly, these stars are 25,000 light years away.<br /><br />So does anyone know why the stars appear as discs. I can understand that without the distortion, the star won't twinkle. But there seems to be a very clear cut edge.<br /><br />Cheers!<br /><br />Jeff<br /><br />

 

[heyscottie]

I don't believe you are actually seeing discs, but rather saturation of the photo sensor. A brighter light source will saturate to a greater radius.

 

[jeffhannan]

I see. Yes, they couldn't possibly be discs otherwise detecting a planet wouldn't be that difficult.<br /><br />I wonder if we can even see the nearest star at anything greater than a pixel (or whatever counts for a pixel among the devices used by astronomers).<br /><br />Jeff<br />

 

[MeteorWayne]

Well the rule is, if it's a bright long but squared line extening either up and down, or left and right on an image, it's likely saturation and blooming from the sensors.<br />However if it's faint, and more than a few pixels wide, it's much more likely to be real. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[heyscottie]

We have actually imaged the discs of a few of the giant stars out there. I think Deneb and Eta Carinae, perhaps?

 

[qso1]

I know of one that was imaged as a disc, and that was Betelgeuse. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>