This cavernous nebula is dwelling to a bundle of younger stars, particularly a triple system of T-Tauri stars. These are stars which might be younger, lower than 100 million years previous, and which haven’t but ignited nuclear fusion reactions inside their core. As a substitute, their gentle comes from the warmth of gravitational contraction.
T-Tauri stars are named after the eponymous protostar, which is discovered within the constellation of Taurus, the Bull. By coincidence, these T-Tauri stars, collectively labelled as HP Tau, are additionally in Taurus and have been imaged right here by the Nicholas U. Mayall four-metre telescope on the Kitt Peak Nationwide Observatory in Arizona. All three stars may be clearly seen, situated 550 gentle years away and ensconced on this eerie nebula. It isn’t their beginning nebula, however a cloud of mud that’s reflecting the sunshine of the celebrities of HP Tau, therefore we name it a mirrored image nebula.
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