Antares: astronomers capture best ever image of a star’s surface and atmosphere

Pictures of red supergiant Antares, 550 light years from Earth, are the most detailed images even taken of a star other than the sun

Astronomers have produced the most detailed ever images of a star other than the sun.

The red supergiant, called Antares, is known as the heart of the Scorpius constellation because of its rosy hue, discernible to the naked eye, and location in the body of the astronomical beast. The new images, produced using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile, are the most detailed yet of the surface and atmosphere of a star beyond our solar system.