A star's dramatic transformation revealed in Hubble image

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's flashback picture of the star V838 Monocerotis (V838 Mon) shows remarkable changes in the lighting of the encompassing dusty cloud formations. This phenomenon, known as a light echo, has been exposing dust structures that have never been seen before since the star abruptly became brighter for a few weeks in early 2002.

V838 Mon lies about 20,000 light-years away from Earth in the direction of the constellation Monoceros while the light echo spans several light years in diameter. In 2002, the star experienced a dramatic outburst that caused it to become 600,000 times brighter than the Sun, making it one of the brightest stars in our Milky Way galaxy. However, the star eventually faded in April of that year, and the cause of the eruption remains unknown.

Since 2002, the Hubble Space Telescope has made multiple observations of the V838 Mon light echo. Researchers have been investigating the composition of the star to understand the dust pattern that was exposed by the echo and to figure out what caused the progenitor star to have the outburst.

🎆 Getting festive for the new year! This #HubbleTopImage of the star V838 Monocerotis reveals dramatic changes in the illumination of surrounding dusty cloud structures. This effect is called a light echo.Read more: https://t.co/ePcLokwEPE pic.twitter.com/X3tEq10Ny6

— HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) December 29, 2022