Astronomers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have made an incredible discovery, observing the mesmerizing movements of giant gas bubbles on the surface of a nearby star for the first time. These massive hot gas bubbles, which are a staggering 75 times larger than the sun, rise and fall in a manner reminiscent of the inside of a lava lamp.

The star in question, known as R. Doradus, is a red giant star located approximately 180 light-years away in the constellation of Dorado. With a diameter about 350 times that of the sun, this celestial body serves as a preview for what our own sun's future might look like. In around 5 billion years, once our sun becomes a red giant, it will expand and release layers of material, potentially evaporating the inner planets of our solar system, although the fate of Earth remains uncertain, according to NASA.

The observations were made possible by using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) of telescopes located in Chile. This marks the first time that such detailed movements have been tracked on the surface of a star other than the sun. Lead study author Wouter Vlemmings, a professor of astronomy and plasma physics at Chalmers, expressed astonishment at the level of detail captured in the images, stating that they did not expect to witness these gas bubbles and their movement with such clarity.

The phenomenon being studied is called convection, which occurs as stars near the end of their lifetimes. Stars produce energy through nuclear fusion in their cores, converting hydrogen atoms to helium. This process generates heat, enabling stars to shine brightly for billions of years. Convection helps transport energy from the core to the star's surface through large, hot bubbles of gas. As these bubbles cool down, they sink, causing a mixing of elements within the star.

Convection also plays a crucial role in the creation of stellar winds, powerful gusts of wind that carry elements produced by stars into space, aiding in the formation of new stars and planets. When a star exhausts its hydrogen fuel, its core collapses, resulting in an increase in temperature. This leads to the star swelling and expanding into a red giant. Eventually, the star sheds its outermost layers, releasing the elements it produced during its lifetime into space.

As Professor Vlemmings notes, the team's observations of R. Doradus provide valuable insights into how material from dying stars is ejected and incorporated into new stars and planets. By selecting R. Doradus as their focus, the researchers benefitted from its proximity and large size, which enabled high-resolution images of the star's surface to be collected over the course of a month.

Coauthor Theo Khouri, a researcher at Chalmers, explains that while convection creates the familiar granular structure on the surface of the sun, it is challenging to observe the same phenomenon on other stars. However, with ALMA, the researchers were able to not only directly observe convective granules, but also measure their velocities for the first time. The convective cells on R. Doradus' surface are incredibly large, more than 100 million kilometers in size, and persist for about a month.

Dr. Claudia Paladini, an associate astronomer at the European Southern Observatory in Chile, commended the longer duration of the team's observations, highlighting the ability to capture the evolution of these bubbles. While previous observations of bubbles on the surface of stars had been made, this new research takes the understanding to new heights.

The researchers hope to continue their investigations by observing more stars in a similar manner. These groundbreaking observations not only shed light on the inner workings of stars but also offer invaluable insights into the creation and evolution of galaxies, confirming the old adage that we are all indeed made of stardust.