Zooming in on Red Giant Star π1 Gruis | ESO

Zooming in on Red Giant Star π1 Gruis | ESO

This sequence takes the viewer towards the southern constellation of Grus (The Crane). We zoom in on the pair of stars π1 Gruis (red) and π2 Gruis (bluish-white), and the bright spiral galaxy IC 5201 is also visible. The final shot shows a very detailed view of the surface of the red giant star π1 Gruis from the PIONIER instrument on the VLT Interferometer.

Distance: about 530 light-years

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Digitized Sky Survey 2/N. Risinger 

Duration: 50 seconds

Release Date: December 20, 2017

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