Timelapse of Carbon Star CW Leonis | Hubble

Timelapse of Carbon Star CW Leonis | Hubble

The NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope provides a striking observation of the carbon star CW Leonis, which resembles a baleful orange eye glaring from behind a shroud of smoke.

The bright beams of light radiating outwards from CW Leonis are one of the most intriguing parts of this image, as they have changed in brightness within a 15 year period—an incredibly short span of time in astronomical terms, which is demonstrated in this timelapse. Astronomers speculate that gaps in the shroud of dust surrounding CW Leonis may allow these beams of starlight to pierce through and illuminate dust further from the star. However the exact cause of the dramatic changes in their brightness is as yet unexplained.

Credit: European Space Agency/Hubble & NASA, J. Trauger, P. Seitzer, T. Ueta, H. Kim, M. Zamani

Duration: 15 seconds

Release Date: November 2, 2021

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