Chi Cygni from the Infrared Optical Telescope Array (IMAGE)

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Chi Cygni from the Infrared Optical Telescope Array

Caption

Chi Cygni changes brightness dramatically and regularly every 408 days due to in-and-out pulsations. Using interferometry to image the star's surface at four separate times, astronomers found that the star grows to a diameter of 480 million miles -- large enough to engulf the asteroid belt -- before shrinking to a minimum diameter of 300 million miles. Chi Cygni also shows significant hotspots near minimum radius.

Credit

Sylvestre Lacour, Observatoire de Paris

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