Earth and Space

Echoing light

Stories from Physics for 11-14 14-16 IOP RESOURCES

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

Limit Less Campaign

Support our manifesto for change

The IOP wants to support young people to fulfil their potential by doing physics. Please sign the manifesto today so that we can show our politicians there is widespread support for improving equity and inclusion across the education sector.

Sign today