The unexpected expansion of the star V838 Mon, followed by its rapidly fading brightness, was an event that surprised scientists. The star suddenly became the brightest star in the Milky Way Galaxy in January 2002, but soon stopped shining.

It was extraordinary that the star's intrinsic brightness increased to 600,000 times that of the Sun. This explosion has led to different theories, such as that the star may have been swallowed by a companion star or planet.

The image, taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, shows an outward echo of light from the bright explosion. This echo is the result of light reflected by the dust clouds around the star.

In the image, a cloud of tan dust envelops a burst of red light coming from its centre. Four massive blue stars are visible in the foreground, with smaller blue stars in the background.