Astronomy Picture of the Day
    


Portrait of RY Tauri
<< Yesterday 23.09.2005 Tomorrow >>
Portrait of RY Tauri
Credit & Copyright: Gemini Observatory, Club d'astronomie de Dorval, S. Cote (HIA), T. Rector (U. Alaska)
Explanation: A star emerges from its natal cloud of gas and dust in this tantalizing portrait of RY Tauri, a small stellar nursery at the edge of the Taurus molecular cloud, a mere 450 light-years away. Illuminating a region that spans about 2/3 of a light-year, the youthful, central star is large, cool, and known to vary in brightness. Still collapsing, in a few million years the star's winds will likely clear out the gas and dust clouds, as it settles down to become a steady main sequence star like the Sun. What remains could well include a planetary system. The image data for RY Tauri is from the Gemini Observatory, on Mauna Kea, Hawaii -- based on observations proposed by the Astronomy Club of Dorval, Quebec.

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
 < September 2005  >
Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su



1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Based on Astronomy Picture Of the Day

Publications with keywords: variable star - star formation
Publications with words: variable star - star formation
See also:
All publications on this topic >>