New imaging technique provides the sharpest image yet of a star’s surrounding disk

Astronomers have developed a revolutionary imaging technique using a device called a photonic lantern that splits telescope light into multiple channels based on wavefront shape and color, then uses computational methods to reconstruct ultra-sharp images. The team successfully tested this method on Beta Canis Minoris, a star 162 light-years away, revealing unprecedented details of its surrounding disk's rotation and lopsided shape. This breakthrough enables astronomers to capture higher-quality images of smaller, more distant objects than traditional telescope methods allow.