In January 2002, V838 Mon became the brightest star in the galaxy after it's surface suddenly expanded for an unknown reason. The star shrunk just as quickly, confusing scientists as to why the outburst occured. In this photo, the Hubble Space Telescope captured a light echo associated with the flash. In a light echo, interstellar dust reflects light. V838 Mon's transformations amazed scientists who saw the star change from a small under-luminous star that was hotter than the Sun, to a cool supergiant. The star is about 20,000 light-years away from Earth in the Monoceros Constellation. It's light echos extend about 6 light-years, and it is expected that the light echos will continue to occur until 2010.
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