Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

V838 Mon: Mystery Star

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 3, 2002 is “V838 Mon: Mystery Star,” an image. It is credited to Credit: Lisa Crause (Univ. Cape Town), Warrick Lawson (Australian Defence Force Academy). The original explanation runs about 193 words.

V838 Mon: Mystery Star
Credit: Lisa Crause (Univ. Cape Town), Warrick Lawson (Australian Defence Force Academy) Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“A leading candidate for the most mysterious star found in recent times is variable star V838 Monocerotis . At a distance of about 8,000 light-years, V838 Mon was discovered to be in outburst in January of this year.”

— APOD editors, October 3, 2002

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
October 3, 2002
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Lisa Crause (Univ. Cape Town), Warrick Lawson (Australian Defence Force Academy)
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 193 words

All of October 2002 → · 2002 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Nebulae

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.