Antares between σ and τ of Scorpio. Looks white on this IR image.
Researchers have obtained new evidence that the convection process cannot explain the volume of material moving away from the surface of the red supergiants.
The analysis was carried out on the example of the star Antares, located in the constellation Scorpio. The data showed that it is 15 times larger than the Sun and is at the last stage of its development. Red supergiants possess atmospheres that go far beyond the surface. Moreover, in some areas Antares extends to Mars.
It was previously thought that this was due to convection cells carrying material from the star. But now it is necessary to make changes, because the new information indicates that convection is not capable of being responsible for such a quantity of material. To understand the situation, scientists used an interferometer on the Very Large Telescope (Chile), as well as AMBER, whose lens diameter reaches 82 m. After a spectral analysis of the upper atmosphere, the researchers created a Doppler star, which marks the direction of the stars.
It turned out that the density of the material being moved and its prevalence is higher than the existing models show. So there is another force.
