Hubble time lapse of an 'exploding star'

[vger]

Okay, not literally exploding, but that's what was originally thought when it happened.

The unusual variable star V838 Monocerotis (V838 Mon) continues to puzzle astronomers. This previously inconspicuous star underwent an outburst early in 2002, during which it temporarily increased in brightness to become 600,000 times more luminous than our Sun. Light from this sudden eruption is illuminating the interstellar dust surrounding the star, producing the most spectacular "light echo" in the history of astronomy.

As light from the eruption propagates outward into the dust, it is scattered by the dust and travels to the Earth. The scattered light has travelled an extra distance in comparison to light that reaches Earth directly from the stellar outburst. Such a light echo is the optical analogue of the sound echo produced when an Alpine yodel is reflected from the surrounding mountainsides.

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has been observing the V838 Mon light echo since 2002. Each new observation of the light echo reveals a new and unique "thin-section" through the interstellar dust around the star. This video morphs images of the light echo from the Hubble taken at multiple times between 2002 and 2006. The numerous whorls and eddies in the interstellar dust are particularly noticeable. Possibly they have been produced by the effects of magnetic fields in the space between the stars.

It's older news, but searching the science labs showed no mention of it. Apologies if this HAS appeared here before.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1fvMSs9cps

(no idea why this isn't embedding)

Edited May 19, 2015 by vger

[K^2]

If anyone is wondering, the reason the image looks kind of fake-ish is because it uses morphs as means of interpolation between frames.

[Scotius]

How bright is that light echo? Would we seen anything with a naked eye if a interstellar starship travelled there?

[miracmert]

Wow, this is one of the coolest space image I've seen But I didn't understand a lot about what puzzles astronomers. Is it that more light scattered into interstellar dust than it should have?

[andrewas]

They are puzzled by the explosion itself. Stars don't usually increase their output 600,000 times without exploding.

[Slam_Jones]

Wow, gorgeous!

Thanks for sharing