images

Nebula NGC 1555 with T-Tauri

by

Tom Davis/Novapix

Reference

a-neb15-55001

Date

2009-12-03

The orange star centered in this view is T Tauri, prototype of the class of T Tauri variable stars. Nearby it is a dusty yellow cosmic cloud historically known as Hind's Variable Nebula (NGC 1555/1554). Over 400 light-years away, at the edge of a 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. The red star in the right portion of this image is V1100 Tauri, a spectral class M variable star. Many dusty nebulae are seen in the region, some of which have not been cataloged.