{
  "id": 11477449,
  "title": "How stars shine: Infrared observations expose gaps in models of how stars distribute their light",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/02/how-stars-shine-infrared-observations-expose-gaps-in-models-of-how",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-02T16:20:20.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-10-stars-infrared-expose-gaps.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Astronomers using Georgia State University's CHARA Array have discovered that nearby stars appear darker at their edges than predicted by several widely-used stellar atmosphere models. By measuring the brightness of 31 nearby stars, researchers found that limb darkening, the phenomenon where stars appear fainter at their edges, changes more strongly at near-infrared wavelengths than previously estimated. This effect occurs because light from the center of a star's disk, generated in deeper, hotter layers, appears brighter than light from the edge, which comes from shallower, cooler layers. The study, published in The Astronomical Journal, provides a new empirical benchmark for testing stellar atmosphere models in the near-infrared. Current models accurately capture the general trend of weaker limb darkening at longer infrared wavelengths, but they do not fully reproduce the wavelength dependence observed in the observations.",
  "summary": "Astronomers using Georgia State University's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array have found that nearby stars darken toward their edges more strongly at near-infrared wavelengths than predicted by several widely used models of stellar atmospheres, providing a new benchmark for understanding how stars are structured.",
  "key_points": [
    "Nearby stars appear darker at edges than predicted models",
    "Limb darkening changes more at near-infrared wavelengths",
    "Study provides new benchmark for testing models"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}