Time-lapse of CW Leonis

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope celebrates Halloween this year with 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've changed in brightness within a 15 year period — an incredibly short span of time in astronomical terms, which is demonstrated in this time-lapse. 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.

More information and download options: http://esahubble.org/videos/heic2112a/

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