International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Wide binary system HIP 43947
Wide binary system HIP 43947 which is revealed to be a hierarchial quadruple system in this K-band near-infrared image with NICI. The main components are separated by 10.7 arcseconds, and the companions are 0.42 and 0.29 arcseconds away from each of the primary stars. The image is in logarithmic scale. The first Airy rings are easily visible and the diffraction patterns of the stars compare extremely well with the theoretical expectation.
