Hubble’s View of Light Echo V838 Monocerotis

In the center there is a large and bright red point of light. As the video plays, the red light is surrounded by purple, red, and dusky yellow colored gas. The gas appears to spread out as the video continues to play, growing larger, covering up the blackness of space. Though it appears to be growing, this is actually a "Light Echo," the red star flashed and over the following months the once invisible dust and gas around the star was visible due to the light caused by the flash. Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, ESA