Newborn Star V1025 Tauri | Schulman Telescope

Newborn Star V1025 Tauri | Schulman Telescope

Astrophotographer Adam Block: "The brightest star in the center is called a Herbig Ae/Be star. It is captured here in the very earliest stages of stellar evolution as it collapses to become a mature star. Nuclear fusion in its center has started, but the energy output is not yet powerful enough to disperse the natal clouds of dust surrounding it. With wonderful shadow play, these clouds of dust present an intricacy and fragility that is testament to their ephemeral fate. On the time scales of stars this stage is extremely short-lived and few examples look quite like it. It is a mystery as to why these kinds of stars are often born in multiple star systems."

A Herbig Ae/Be star (HAeBe) is a pre-main-sequence star—a young star less than 10 million years old of spectral types A or B. These stars are still embedded in gas-dust envelopes and are sometimes accompanied by circumstellar disks. Hydrogen and calcium emission lines are observed in their spectra. They are typically 2-8 Solar mass objects, still existing in the star formation (gravitational contraction) stage and approaching the main sequence (i.e. they are not burning hydrogen in their center).

Adam Block: "This image, totaling more than 34 hours of exposure time, started from only the hint of something interesting based on available imagery of the region. The Taurus Molecular cloud continues to offer beautiful objects and I consider this image the most interesting one I have taken in years. I didn't know how it would come out since there are no commensurate references to compare it with."

Image Data: 

Optics Schulman 32-inch RCOS Telescope

Camera: SBIG STX16803

Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona

Release Date: Nov. 1, 2015

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Nebulae #ReflectionNebula #Protostars #Star #V1025Tauri #Taurus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #AdamBlock #Astrophotographer #UA #MountLemmonObservatory #SchulmanTelescope #Arizona #UnitedStates #STEM #Education