A seemingly serene landscape of gas and dust is
hopping with star formation behind the scenes.
NASA, ESA, and K. Stapelfeldt (Jet Propulsion
Laboratory); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
While this eerie NASA Hubble Space Telescope image
may look ghostly, it’s actually full of new life. Lupus 3 is a star-forming
cloud about 500 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius.
White wisps of gas swirl throughout the
region, and in the lower-left corner resides a dark dust cloud. Bright T Tauri
stars shine at the left, bottom right, and upper center, while other young
stellar objects dot the image.
T Tauri stars are actively forming stars
in a specific stage of formation. In this stage, the enveloping gas and dust
dissipates from radiation and stellar winds, or outflows of particles from the
emerging star. T Tauri stars are typically less than 10 million years old and
vary in brightness both randomly and periodically due to the environment and
nature of a forming star. The random variations may be due to instabilities in
the accretion disk of dust and gas around the star, material from that disk falling
onto the star and being consumed, and flares on the star’s surface. The more
regular, periodic changes may be caused by giant sunspots rotating in and out
of view.
T Tauri stars are in the process of
contracting under the force of gravity as they become main sequence stars which
fuse hydrogen to helium in their cores. Studying these stars can help
astronomers better understand the star formation process.
New images added every day between January 12-17, 2026! Follow @NASAHubble on social media for the latest Hubble images and news and see Hubble's Stellar Construction Zones for more images of young stellar objects.
Source: Hubble Observes Ghostly Cloud Alive with Star Formation - NASA Science
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