j6p Posted March 29, 2003 #1 Share Posted March 29, 2003 An eruptive star that brightened to 600,000 times its initial intensity and briefly outshone all others in the Milky Way Galaxy has astronomers amazed and puzzled over what happened. The star's light bounces off surrounding dust clouds, creating a spectacular "light echo" in a series of new images from the Hubble Space Telescope. The echo is seen to grow over time as the light races out to fresh layers of material, presumed to have been cast into space long ago by one or more eruptions of the star. The light bounces off that dust and is reflected toward Earth. That is not the strange part. The star, named V838 Monocerotis, has suddenly grown so big that if placed in the center of our solar system it would engulf Jupiter. Oddly, it isn't hot and eruptive in the manner of a supernova or nova, both of which toss off outer layers in explosive fits. Instead, V838 Mon, as astronomers call it, achieved remarkable brilliance while swelling to gargantuan size and remaining cool at its surface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizarro Posted March 29, 2003 #2 Share Posted March 29, 2003 very nice pic, Dan. just goes to show you that the government can use our tax dollars wisely from time to time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kismit Posted March 29, 2003 #3 Share Posted March 29, 2003 Thanx J6 I just set this one as My background . It's soo pretty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halo_Jones Posted March 29, 2003 #4 Share Posted March 29, 2003 AAAaahhhhhh Pretty Picture Thank you J6p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kira Posted March 29, 2003 #5 Share Posted March 29, 2003 WOW what a pic.... and so beautiful too thanks J6p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted March 30, 2003 #6 Share Posted March 30, 2003 Awesome picture j6p!! Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schadeaux Posted March 31, 2003 #7 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Very cool, J6. I love star pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neen Posted March 31, 2003 #8 Share Posted March 31, 2003 what a wonderful picture jp6 .It's out of this world.lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutant Snake Posted April 10, 2003 #9 Share Posted April 10, 2003 Good pic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie Anne Posted January 15, 2006 #10 Share Posted January 15, 2006 An eruptive star that brightened to 600,000 times its initial intensity and briefly outshone all others in the Milky Way Galaxy has astronomers amazed and puzzled over what happened. The star's light bounces off surrounding dust clouds, creating a spectacular "light echo" in a series of new images from the Hubble Space Telescope. The echo is seen to grow over time as the light races out to fresh layers of material, presumed to have been cast into space long ago by one or more eruptions of the star. The light bounces off that dust and is reflected toward Earth. That is not the strange part. The star, named V838 Monocerotis, has suddenly grown so big that if placed in the center of our solar system it would engulf Jupiter. Oddly, it isn't hot and eruptive in the manner of a supernova or nova, both of which toss off outer layers in explosive fits. Instead, V838 Mon, as astronomers call it, achieved remarkable brilliance while swelling to gargantuan size and remaining cool at its surface. I have a bad habit of looking in photos and seeing more than what is there.... this picture reminds me of that emblem on the Mortal Combat cover for some reason. Pretty amazing photo though. (sorry for digging up such an old post, I am soooo bored) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raptor Posted January 15, 2006 #11 Share Posted January 15, 2006 ^Haha, I see what you mean. It would be great if we could get views like that simply from looking up at our night sky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megalomania Posted January 16, 2006 #12 Share Posted January 16, 2006 http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html There are tonnes of them there. SOme really pretty ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Macabre Posted January 16, 2006 #13 Share Posted January 16, 2006 very lovely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryso Posted January 16, 2006 #14 Share Posted January 16, 2006 Amazing image. Makes you feel small doesn't it, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xyfer Posted January 17, 2006 #15 Share Posted January 17, 2006 ^^^ I think so too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tillghast Posted January 17, 2006 #16 Share Posted January 17, 2006 Awesome piccy. By the way Kryso, your new avatar and signature scare me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogfish Posted January 20, 2006 #17 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Wolf-Rayet Stars are always pretty... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now