﻿ Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 March 21 [2]A star field strewn with bunches of brown dust is pictured. In the center is a bright area of light brown dust, and in the center of that is a bright region of star formation. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Dark Nebulae and Star Formation in Taurus Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Vikas Chander Explanation: Can dust be beautiful? Yes, and it can also be useful. The [4]Taurus molecular cloud has several bright stars, but it is the [5]dark dust that really [6]draws attention. The pervasive [7]dust has waves and ripples and makes picturesque [8]dust [9]bunnies, but perhaps more importantly, it marks regions where [10]interstellar gas is dense enough to [11]gravitationally contract to form stars. In the image center is a light cloud lit by neighboring stars that is home not only to a famous nebula, but to a very young and massive famous star. Both the star, [12]T Tauri, and the nebula, [13]Hind's Variable Nebula, are seen to vary dramatically in brightness -- but not necessarily at the same time, adding to the mystery of this intriguing region. [14]T Tauri and [15]similar stars are now generally recognized to be [16]Sun-like stars that are less than a few million years old and so still in the early stages of [17]formation. The featured image spans about four [18]degrees not far from the [19]Pleiades star cluster, while the featured dust field lies about 400 [20]light-years away. Tomorrow's picture: an unusually distant swirl __________________________________________________________________ [21]< | [22]Archive | [23]Submissions | [24]Index | [25]Search | [26]Calendar | [27]RSS | [28]Education | [29]About APOD | [30]Discuss | [31]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [32]Robert Nemiroff ([33]MTU) & [34]Jerry Bonnell ([35]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [36]Specific rights apply. [37]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [38]ASD at [39]NASA / [40]GSFC, [41]NASA Science Activation & [42]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2303/TaurusDust_Chander_4096.jpg 3. https://www.instagram.com/vikaschanderastrophotography/ 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurus_molecular_cloud 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180626.html 6. https://www.selfsufficientculture.com/attachments/cat-dog-chickens-looking-into-kitchen-through-window-jpeg.811/ 7. https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/d/Dust+Grain 8. https://www.thisoldhouse.com/21017966/anatomy-of-a-dust-bunny 9. https://dailybunny.org/ 10. https://stardate.org/astro-guide/interstellar-gas-and-dust 11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_collapse 12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_Tauri 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220210.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110326.html 15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_Tauri_star 16. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/all-about-the-sun/ 17. https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve 18. https://lco.global/spacebook/sky/using-angles-describe-positions-and-apparent-sizes-objects/ 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221205.html 20. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/ 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230320.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 30. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230321 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230322.html 32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 34. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 35. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 37. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 38. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 39. https://www.nasa.gov/ 40. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 41. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 42. http://www.mtu.edu/