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New Light [1]

A possible newly forming star [2] lights up a surrounding cloud of gas and dust in this recent image from the Gemini South telescope. The object is near the center of the Chamaeleon I dark cloud, which is one of the closest stellar nurseries to Earth. The young object, known as a protostar, is encircled by a disk of light-absorbing dust, which could be giving birth to new planets. The disk blocks the protostar itself from view. But high-speed streams of gas flow out from its poles, producing the bright cones of light. The bright red patch to the lower right of the protostar is a blob of gas that's illuminated by the protostar. The bright star at top right is a foreground object. [International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA]

possible protostar in chamaeleon nebula
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Source URL:https://legacy.stardate.org/astro-guide/gallery/new-light

Links
[1] https://legacy.stardate.org/astro-guide/gallery/new-light [2] https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2129/?lang