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Explanation: What did the Sun look like before there were planets? A prototype laboratory for the formation of low mass stars like our Sun is the T Tauri system, one of the brighter star systems toward the constellation of Taurus. In young systems, gravity causes a gas cloud to condense. The situation then usually becomes quite complex, as some of the infalling gas is heated by collisions so high that it is immediately expelled as an outgoing wind. Complex geometries including jets and disks form as the infalling and outflowing gas collide and interact with a changing magnetic field. Pictured above is a false-color image of the T Tauri system itself, which turns out to be a binary. In a few million years, the central condensate will likely become hot enough to ignite nuclear fusion, by which time much of the surrounding circumstellar material will either have fallen in or have been driven off by the stellar wind. At that time, a new star will shine.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: star formation
Publications with words: star formation
See also:
- NGC 1893 and the Tadpoles of IC 410
- Star Factory Messier 17
- APOD: 2023 August 28 Á Star Formation in the Pacman Nebula
- APOD: 2023 July 10 Á Stars, Dust and Nebula in NGC 6559
- NGC 1333: Stellar Nursery in Perseus
- APOD: 2023 March 21 Á Dark Nebulae and Star Formation in Taurus
- The Tadpole Nebula in Gas and Dust