Measuring the Mass of a Single Star
In the image at top, left, astronomers discovered a subtle brightening of a star [located within the box] due to the effect of gravitational microlensing. This phenomenon occurs when a foreground star, in this case a dim red star, passes in front of a much more distant star and amplifies its light. Astronomers were engaged in a large-scale search for microlensing events in the halo of our Milky Way galaxy. They were looking in the direction of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. The image was taken in February 1993 with the 50-inch telescope at the Mount Stromlo Observatory in Australia. The box represents the field of view of NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
Credit:
About the Image
NASA caption
| Id: | opo0424a |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 14 April 2004, 19:00 |
| Size: | 3000 x 2400 px |
About the Object
| Name: | MACHO-LMC-5 1994 |
| Type: | • Milky Way : Star • Milky Way : Cosmology : Phenomenon : Lensing • Local Universe : Star |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
| Optical V |
606 nm | Hubble Space Telescope ACS |
| Infrared I |
814 nm | Hubble Space Telescope ACS |
Notes: This image was captured with the 50-inch telescope at the Mount Stromlo Observatory.
