V838 Monocerotis

V838 Monocerotis- a star in our Milky Way galaxy that seemed to be a nova after it flared up in 2002, but which defied expectations by exploding again a month later, and then a third time after another month. Theories to explain this phenomenon include a three part planetary collision, a smaller star crashing into V838 in a three part impact, and simply an abnormal, extra dramatic nova. After the collisions these beautiful rings appeared around the star. They are a light echo: the light caused by the explosions rippling through surrounding dust, illuminating the debris as it moves through.

Astronomical photographs are generally taken with colored filters to allow the human eye to detect subtleties and colors in the sky impossible to see otherwise through the telescope; the light is too weak this far away. The filters allow only a certain wavelength to be captured, but in greater detail. In this image we have taken "red", "blue", and "green" wavelength photographs and layered them together, creating a full spectrum false-colored image of the light echo emitted after V838's explosions. Here we can see everything clearly and beautifully, from the 'blue' stars, to the 'green' dust swirling around the hot 'red' star.