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Astronomy

A turbulent stellar atmosphere in full view

Nature volume 548, pages 288–289 (2017)Cite this article

The dynamic motion of gas in the outer atmosphere of a red supergiant star has been mapped, providing clues to the mysterious mechanism that causes massive stars to lose mass through stellar winds. See Letter p.310

Stars that have more than about nine times the mass of our Sun lose considerable mass throughout their lifetimes as a result of stellar winds, a process that provides elements for the next generation of stars and for planet formation. On page 310, Ohnaka et al.1 present the first two-dimensional map to depict the velocity of gas across the surface of a red supergiant — a massive star at a late stage of its evolution. The map shows large clumps of upwelling and downdraughting gas in the star's outer atmosphere, and suggests that convection alone cannot be responsible for lifting material away from the stellar surface of massive stars as had been thought.

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Figure 1: The heart of the scorpion.

Tony & Daphne Hallas/SPL

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CHARA Array of Georgia State University, Mount Wilson, 91023, California, USA

    Gail H. Schaefer

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  1. Gail H. Schaefer
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Correspondence to Gail H. Schaefer.

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Schaefer, G. A turbulent stellar atmosphere in full view. Nature 548, 288–289 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/548288a

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