[SunkenCiv]

[Credit: NASA, ESA, H. E. Bond (STScI)]

[unkus]

Awesome!

[mosesdapoet]

Thank You

[tanuki]

HAL! That’s some upgrade!

[EternalVigilance]

For reasons unknown, star V838 Mon's outer surface suddenly greatly expanded with the result that it became the brightest star in the entire Milky Way Galaxy in January 2002. Then, just as suddenly, it faded.

Sorta like a Republican presidential candidate.

[LRS]

like this has never been seen before

Hmmmm. But have they been to 3 county fairs and 2 goat effings and ain't never seen nutin' like it?

[762X51]

This blows my mind! The article says that in 2002 this star became the brightest in the Milky Way. Since this star is 20,000 light years away the event actually occurred 20,000 years ago. The Wooly Mammoth still had 10,000 years left to roam the earth. The Ice Age was at it’s peak. A lot happened here on Earth between the time this star became bright and the time we saw it. When you gaze into the night sky you’re seeing history. Ancient history. Some of what you see may no longer actually exist and some things may actually exist that we can’t see yet. Everybody finds God in different places, I find him in the stars.

[ixtl]

Beautiful, but eerie at the same time.

[momtothree]

Beautiful, SunkenCiv!

[2nd Bn, 11th Mar]

Reminds me a little of the maw that planet eating machine had in an original Star Trek.