Echoing light
Stories from Physics
for 11-14
14-16
Among the many beautiful images produced by the Hubble Space Telescope, some of the most dramatic are the sequence of images capturing a flash of radiation from a red supergiant star, V838 Mon, in the Unicorn constellation. In 2002, the star suddenly increased in luminosity, releasing a burst of radiation 600,000 times more luminous than the Sun. The Hubble telescope captured a series of images of this radiation lighting up dust and gas surrounding the stars. The stunning sequence of images is viewable at the NASA website: nasa.gov/content/discoveries-highlights-seeing-light-echoes
References
Echoing light
R. Prinja, Hubble offered a rare, ring-side seat at the death of a star, 24th April, 2015, Phys.org website, https://phys.org/news/2015-04-hubble-rare-ring-side-seat-death.html