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A two-color-composite mid-IR image of U Ant, showing a shell of warm dust

RedGiants-fig_UAnt2

A two-color-composite mid-IR image of U Ant taken with AKARI's Infrared Camera (IRC), showing a shell of warm dust (15 micron image in blue and 24 micron image in red; the central star has been subtracted and the central noisy region has been masked out for clarity; the position of the star is indicated by the "star" symbol). This is the first mid-IR image ever taken in which an extended detached dust shell around an evolved star has been captured. This image of the faint dust shell in the mid-IR was constructed successfully because bright emission from the central star was removed effectively through careful planning of observations and painstaking analysis of AKARI's high-quality data taken with its high-performance IRC instrument on-board the telescope.

Results: AKARI reveals Red Giants' dusty veils

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