  Spatially resolving the surfaces of nearby stars promises to advance our
knowledge of stellar physics. Using optical long-baseline interferometry, we
present here a near-infrared image of the rapidly rotating hot star Altair with
<1 milliarcsecond resolution. The image clearly reveals the strong effect of
gravity darkening on the highly-distorted stellar photosphere. Standard models
for a uniformly rotating star can not explain our results, requiring
differential rotation, alternative gravity darkening laws, or both.
