Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes 
Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory
La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain 

Reference: ING Press Release, 27/03/2003  
Date: Thursday 27 March 2003 
Embargo: For immediate release 
Internet: http://www.ing.iac.es/PR/press/ing22003.html 
(Mirrored at http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/ING/PR/press/ing22003.html) 
   

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 Astrofisica 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 which is operated by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC).

PICTURES AND MOVIES

Available at http://www.ing.iac.es/PR/press/ing22003.html (mirrored at
http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/ING/PR/press/ing22003.html) or by contacting
Javier Mendez (see contact details below).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Dr. Romano Corradi
Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes 
Phone: +34 922 425 461
Fax: +34 922 425 401
E-mail: rcorradi@ing.iac.es

Mr. Javier Mendez  
Public Relations Officer  
Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes  
Phone: +34 922 425 464, +34 616 464 111  
Fax: +34 922 425 442  
E-mail: jma@ing.iac.es 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE WEB:

This material is being co-released with the European Space Agency 
(http://hubble.esa.int/hubble/news/index.cfm?oid=32026), NASA/STScI/OPO 
(http://hubblesite.org/news/2003/10), Arizona State University, 
University of Arizona, the National Science Foundation and the Instituto
de Astrofisica de Canarias 
(http://www.iac.es/gabinete/noticias/2003/m03d26.htm).

More information on the William Herschel Telescope: 
http://www.ing.iac.es/PR/wht_info/ 

More information on the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING): 
http://www.ing.iac.es/PR/