Unwrap the wonders of the red supergiant star V838 Monocerotis in this time-lapse of the light echo from the star’s 2002 outburst, when it temporarily became 600,000 times more luminous than the Sun. The flash from that event has been moving outward through space, lighting up previously unseen shells of dusty material around the star. They may have been ejected during previous outbursts, which is common in aging stars. The Hubble Space Telescope returned repeatedly to study the evolving scene. C

An expanding halo of light shines around the distant star V838 Monocerotis. At 20,000 light-years away, this star is at the outer edge of our Milky Way Galaxy. Read more about this #HubbleClassic: https://go.nasa.gov/34d9r6V Video credits: NASA and G. Bacon (STScI) #NASA #Hubble #classic #video #star #science #space #universe #astronomy #cosmos #nebula | NASA's Hubble Space Telescope

the explosion of the star V838 Monocerotis from Hubble | Free AstroScience

This isn't an expanding star: this is a light echo! Seen in this time-lapse sonification, a pulse of light from the star V838 Monocerotis gives the illusion that the surrounding dust is expanding into space. In reality, the dust shells aren't expanding at all – the light from the star's flash is just reaching dust that is farther away. Hubble captured the first image #OTD in 2002! This star is located about 20,000 light-years away, at the outer edge of our Milky Way Galaxy. In this sonification,

•• V838 Monocerotis Revisited • Here we see a light echo. A view of an expanding halo of light around a distant star, named V838 Monocerotis (V838 Mon). The illumination of interstellar dust comes from the red supergiant star at the middle of the image, which gave off a flashbulb-like pulse of light. Credit: NASA, the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI) and ESA | Astronomy Nation