Hubble telescope captures Moncerotis
spectacular eruption of light and dust
The Hubble Telescope recently celebrated its 27th birthday, and in those years it has given us an incredible look at the vast world we live in. Case in point, a rare peek at a dying star.
From 2002 to 2006, Hubble captured close-up images of an enormous star named V838 Moncerotis, which sits 20,000 light-years away from Earth. The unusual variable star Monocerotis 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.
Hubble's exceptionally sharp focus of V838 Mon offered a ring-side seat at the slow death of the star and excited astrophysicists with the chance to study the physics of the light, matter and microscopic dust of the interstellar medium.
From 2002 to 2006, Hubble captured close-up images of an enormous star named V838 Moncerotis, which sits 20,000 light-years away from Earth. The unusual variable star Monocerotis 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.
Hubble's exceptionally sharp focus of V838 Mon offered a ring-side seat at the slow death of the star and excited astrophysicists with the chance to study the physics of the light, matter and microscopic dust of the interstellar medium.
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.
Each new observation of the light echo reveals a new and unique "thin-section" through the interstellar dust around the star. 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.
Each new observation of the light echo reveals a new and unique "thin-section" through the interstellar dust around the star. 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.
