                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

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                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2022 February 10

                     T Tauri and Hind's Variable Nebula
   Image Credit & Copyright: Dawn Lowry, Gian Lorenzo Ferretti, Ewa Pasiak
                               and Terry Felty

   Explanation: The star with an orange tint near top center in this dusty
   telescopic frame is T Tauri, prototype of the class of T Tauri variable
   stars. Next to it (right) is a yellow cosmic cloud historically known
   as Hind's Variable Nebula (NGC 1555). About 650 light-years away, at
   the boundary of the local bubble and the Taurus 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 well-composed image spans about 8 light-years at the
   estimated distance of T Tauri.

                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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