The eruption was so bright that for a while it was one of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way
Ever wonder what an exploding star looks like?
NASA has released this incredible time lapse video showing the
enormous explosion of a red star called V838 Monocerotis, located some
20,000 light years away.
The breathtaking images were captured by NASA’s Hubble telescope over a four-year period.
What makes this starburst even more fascinating is that its origins
remains a puzzle, as scientists still don’t fully understand why the
explosion occurred. Initially, astronomers thought it was a nova – which
is a relatively more common outburst – but more recently, they came to
the realization that it was something quite different.
“The outburst may represent a transitory stage in a star’s evolution that is rarely seen,” says the Hubble website.
“The star has some similarities to highly unstable aging stars called
eruptive variables, which suddenly and unpredictably increase in
brightness.”
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