Red Giant Star R Doradus: Wide-field view | Digitized Sky Survey 2

Red Giant Star R Doradus: Wide-field view | Digitized Sky Survey 2

This wide-field view, created from Digitized Sky Survey 2 images, shows the region around R Doradus, the bright, orange star in the center that is 178 light years away. The image shows a dark sky filled with thousands of stars, mostly tiny dots. Right at the center of the image is a large, very bright, orange star. To its bottom left are some small stars that stand out from the background. To the bottom right of the image is another slightly bigger, white-yellow star.

A red giant is a luminous giant star of low or intermediate mass (roughly 0.3–8 solar masses) in a late phase of stellar evolution. These stars have exhausted the supply of hydrogen in their cores and have begun thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen in the shell surrounding their cores. They have radii tens to hundreds of times larger than that of our Sun. However, their outer envelope is lower in temperature, giving them a yellowish-orange hue. A red giant will usually produce a planetary nebula and become a white dwarf at the end of its life. It is our Sun’s destiny to become a red giant star as well.

The surface of R Doradus was recently imaged in detail using the Atacama Large Millimeter / submillimeter Array (ALMA). The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner.

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

Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin

Release Date: Sept. 11, 2024

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