Captured by Washington-based Nasa's Hubble telescope, the animation spans four years and shows a huge explosion emanating from V838 Monocerotis - a red star located in the constellation Monoceros. A stellar flash like this was unprecedented because supernovas and novas typically expel matter out into space, often obscuring them from view. While the animation appears to show V838 expel material into space, what it is actually showing is an outwardly moving 'light echo' of the bright flash - about a million times solar luminosity. Scientists still don't know what caused the explosion.
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