Astronomy Picture of the Day

T Tauri and Hind's Variable Nebula


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#105003 by @ 14.12.2007 00:00 - nach oben -
T Tauri and Hind's Variable Nebula


Explanation:

The orange star centered in this remarkable
telescopic skyview
is T Tauri, prototype of the class of
T Tauri
variable
stars.

Nearby it is a dusty yellow cosmic cloud
historically known
as Hind's Variable Nebula (NGC 1555/1554).

Over 400 light-years away, at the edge of a molecular cloud,
both star and nebula
are seen to vary significantly in
brightness but not necessarily at the same time, adding to the mystery of
the intriguing region.

T Tauri stars are now generally recognized as young
(less than a few million years old),
sun-like stars still in the
early stages of
formation.

To further
complicate the picture, infrared observations indicate
that T Tauri itself is part of a multiple system and
suggest that the associated
Hind's
Nebula may also contain a very young stellar object.

The dramatic color image spans about 4 light-years at the estimated
distance
of T Tauri
.




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