SEPTEMBER 23, 2005
Portrait of RY Tauri
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.
Credit
Gemini Observatory, Club d'astronomie de Dorval, S. Cote (HIA), T. Rector (U. Alaska)
