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During a program of spectroscopic monitoring of V838 Mon, we serendipitously discovered that a neighboring 16th-mag star is of type B. We then carried out a spectroscopic survey of other stars in the vicinity, revealing two more B-type…
We report the discovery of multiple shells around the eruptive variable star V838 Mon. Two dust shells are seen in IRAS and MSX images, which themselves are situated in a shell of CO. This securely establishes V838 Mon as an evolved object.…
Aims. V838 Monocerotis erupted in 2002, brightened in a series of outbursts, and eventually developed a spectacular light echo. A very red star emerged a few months after the outburst. The whole event has been interpreted as the result of a…
V838 Mon erupted in 2002 quickly becoming the prototype of a new type of stellar eruptions known today as (luminous) red novae. The red nova outbursts are thought to be caused by stellar mergers. The merger in V838 Mon took place in a…
Some classes of stars, including supernovae and novae, undergo explosive outbursts that eject stellar material into space. In 2002, the previously unknown variable star V838 Monocerotis brightened suddenly by a factor of about 10^4. Unlike…
Context. V838 Monocerotis is a peculiar binary that underwent an immense stellar explosion in 2002, leaving behind an expanding cool supergiant and a hot B3V companion. Five years after the outburst, the B3V companion disappeared from view,…
We report high spatial resolution 11.2 and 18.1 micron imaging of the eruptive variable V838 Monocerotis, obtained with Gemini Observatory's Michelle in 2007 March. The 2007 flux density of the unresolved stellar core is roughly 2 times…
We report high spatial resolution 11.2 and 18.1 micron imaging of V838 Monocerotis obtained with Gemini Observatory's Michelle instrument in 2007 March. Strong emission is observed from the unresolved stellar core of V838 Mon in our Gemini…
Context. V838 Mon is an eruptive variable, which exploded in 2002. It displayed the most spectacular light echo ever observed. However, neither the origin of the reflecting matter nor the nature of the 2002 outburst have been firmly…
Insight into the origin of unusual events like the eruption of V838 Mon can be obtained from studies of the stellar populations from which they arise. V838 Mon lies in an intriguing region of the Galaxy, toward the warped outer edge of the…
V838 Mon erupted at the beginning of 2002. Among various scenarios proposed to explain the nature of the outburst, the most promising is a stellar merger event. The results of spectroscopic observations of the object obtained in October…
The light echo phenomenon that accompanied the 2002 eruption of V838 Mon allows one to study the properties of the diffuse dusty matter in the vicinity of the object. We are aiming at obtaining estimates of the optical thickness of the…
Following the outburst of the unusual variable star V838 Monocerotis in 2002, a spectacular light echo appeared. A light echo provides the possibility of direct geometric distance determination, because it should contain a ring of highly…
The outburst of V838 Monocerotis in early 2002, and the subsequent appearance of its light echoes, occurred just before the installation of the Advanced Camera for Surveys into the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This fortunate sequence of…
V838 Monocerotis (V838 Mon) erupted in 2002 as a luminous red nova after which it cooled and began to form dust. The remnant is predicted to become a blue straggler. Interferometric observations in the HKLM bands have uncovered a stable…
Luminous Red Variables (LRVs) are most likely eruptions that are the outcome of stellar mergers. V838 Mon is one of the best-studied members of this class, representing an archetype for stellar mergers resulting from B-type stars. As result…
V838 Mon erupted at the beginning of 2002. In the course of the outburst the object evolved to low effective temperatures and declined as a very late M-type supergiant. Among various scenarios proposed to explain the nature of the outburst,…
We summarize and analyze the available observational data on the progenitor and the enviroment of V838 Mon. From the available photometric data for the progenitor of V838 Mon we exclude the possibility that the object before eruption was an…
In 2002, V838 Monocerotis (V838 Mon) erupted in a red novae event which has been interpreted to be a stellar merger. Soon after reaching peak luminosity, it began to cool, and its spectrum evolved to later spectral types. Dust was also…
We present imaging polarimetry observations of the eruptive variable V838 Monocerotis and its neighboring field obtained in 2002 October. The polarization of field stars confirms the previously determined interstellar polarization along the…