This isn’t an expanding star: this is a light echo! A pulse of light from the star V838 Monocerotis gives the illusion, seen in this time-lapse sonification, that the surrounding dust is expanding into space. In reality, the dust shells aren’t expanding at all – the light from the star’s flash is just reaching dust that is farther away. This star is located about 20,000 light-years away, at the outer edge of our Milky Way Galaxy. In this sonification, scientists mapped brightness to pitch and vo

3.1K views · 204 reactions | Sagittarius A Star | Astronomers Dale Frail, Amy Kimball, Joanna Corby, and Claire Chandler describe the supermassive black hole in the center of our Galaxy. Discover more... | By National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)Facebook

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