V838 Mon: Echoes From the Edge

The Variable star V838 Monocerotis lies near the dege of our galaxy, about 20,000 light years from the sun. A sudden outburst of awesome looking light has made it way more interesting since January 2002. The light us echoing across other dust filled regions and is revealing things previously invisible to us. Hubble Spcace telescope (which on a positive note is going to be repaired) took this image in September. The picture is approx. 14 light years across. Astronomers are begining to think that it is a new binary star, Right next to M50.