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Credit & Copyright: Bob Franke
Explanation:
This complex of dusty nebulae linger along the edge of
the Taurus molecular cloud,
a mere 450 light-years distant.
Stars are forming on the
cosmic scene, including extremely youthful star
RY Tauri prominent
toward the upper left of the 1.5 degree
wide telescopic field.
In fact RY Tauri is a pre-main sequence star,
embedded in its natal cloud of gas and dust, also cataloged as
reflection nebula vdB 27.
Highly variable,
the
star is still relatively cool and
in the late phases of gravitational collapse.
It will soon become a stable, low mass, main sequence star, a
stage of stellar evolution
achieved by our Sun some 4.5 billion years ago.
Another pre-main sequence star, V1023 Tauri, can be spotted below and right,
embedded in its yellowish dust cloud adjacent to the
striking blue reflection nebula Ced 30.
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Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: stellar evolution
Publications with words: stellar evolution
See also: