Telephone:
+34 922 425400
Fax: +34 922 425401 Web: http://www.ing.iac.es/ |
Apartado de
Correos, 321
E-38700 Santa Cruz de La Palma Canary Islands; SPAIN |
The Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes is an establishment of the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) of the United Kingdom, the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) of the Netherlands and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) in Spain |
|
Reference:
ING Press Release, 27/03/2003
Date: Thursday 27 March 2003 Embargo: For immediate release Other available formats: PDF | TXT UK mirror of this press release SPECTACULAR VIEWS OF AN EXPLODING STAR
An astronomer from the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes has obtained spectacular images of the
star V838 Monocerotis which became the brightest in our Galaxy
when it exploded in January 2002. One of the images will be highlighted on the front cover
of the journal Nature on 27 March 2003 and in a research paper published in the same issue.
V838 Monocerotis erupted in January 2002 when in a few weeks its brightness increased by a factor of
ten thousand. This enormous amount
of energy suddenly produced by the star was observed shortly afterwards as an expanding giant light bubble. The
phenomenon, called "light echo", is an extremely rare event. During a light echo we
can see directly the motion of light as it expands away from the star and
illuminates all the matter it encounters in its amazingly fast (300,000 kilometres per second!) journey.
One of the first detailed images of this light echo was obtained with the William Herschel Telescope on March 28, 2002.
Images taken at successive dates using
the Hubble Space Telescope revealed the expansion of the light echo as well
as the complex structure
of the dust and gas surrounding the star.
Dr. Romano Corradi, the Isaac Newton Group astronomer involved in this research project, comments: "At the time of the explosion V838
Monocerotis became temporarily the brightest star among the one hundred
thousand million stars that form our own Galaxy, the Milky Way. We know that
V838 Monocerotis is actually a system composed of two nearby stars, whose
vicinity is likely to affect the evolution of each other leading to
catastrophic consequences like transfer of gas
from one to the other. However, the origin of the stellar explosion observed in 2002 is
still mysterious and V838 Monocerotis is thought to represent a new class of
stellar explosions."
The light echo will slowly disappear as the star is
fading back to its previous quiescent state, but in its short lived existence (few years
compared to a typical lifetime of a star of several billion years) will
provide us crucial information to understand better how stars evolve in the
Universe, and how they interact with each other.
The image is part of a research study carried out by the following team of astronomers:
Howard E. Bond (Space Telescope Science Institute), Arne Henden (USRA & US Naval Observatory),
Zoltan G. Levay (Space Telescope Science Institute), Nino Panagia (European Space Agency),
William B. Sparks (Space Telescope Science Institute), Sumner Starrfield (Arizona State
University), R. Mark Wagner (Large Binocular Telescope Observatory), Romano L. M. Corradi
(Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes) and U. Munari (INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova).
The Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING) is an establishment of the
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) of the United
Kingdom, the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO)
of the Netherlands and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC)
in Spain. The ING operates the 4.2 metre William Herschel Telescope, the 2.5
metre Isaac Newton Telescope, and the 1.0 metre Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope.
The telescopes are located in the Spanish Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory
on La Palma, Canary Islands which is operated by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC).
PICTURES AND MOVIES
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Dr. Romano Corradi
Mr. Javier Méndez
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE WEB:
This material is being co-released with the European Space Agency (link to press release),
NASA/STScI/OPO (link to press release), Arizona State University,
University of Arizona, the National Science Foundation and the
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
(link to press release).
More information on the William Herschel Telescope: Public Information on the WHT.
More information on the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING): Public Information on ING |