V838 Monocerotis (Light Echo)

Click on image for larger version.

Flash! This star behaved in a way never seen before- in a extreme example of a variable star V838 Monocerotis expanded and for a short time may have been one of the brightest stars in the galaxy. This star has been releasing its outer layers for sometime and formed a complex shell of gas. The recent outburst of this star illuminates the gas and dust that surrounds it. We are looking at the scattered light as it passes through the previously releasted material- not unlike a light echo. It may be soon that the light will run out of gas and dust to scatter off of- but for the time being we can see the history of this strange star. A nice animation of this light echo can be found on a previous Astronomy Picture of the Day. The shell pictured here is greatly expanded as many months have passed since this animation was produced.

Equipment

20in RC Optical Systems telescope Operating at f/8.4
Paramount ME Robotic Telescope Mount
SBIG ST10XME CCD camera with color filter wheel

L R G B color production was used to create this image.

Luminance = 100 minutes binned 1x1
 Red = 20 minutes binned 3x3
 Green = 20 minutes binned 3x3
 Blue = 20 minutes binned 3x3
  • Unfortunately the data was taken during *very* poor seeing.
  • Some of the data was taken with Mark Hanson under the auspices of Doc G. Observer Curt Harris helped complete the majority of the data for this image.
  • Two iterations of L-R deconvolution (sharpening) algorithm using CCDsharp were applied to the luminance image.

  • The AO unit was used to acquire this image.

    • Minimum credit line: Curt Harris/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF

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    Updated: 11/24/2003