The Hubble Space Telescope has provided astonishing new images of young stars forming hundreds of lightyears away. Astronomers using NASA Hubble Telescope have identified three stars in their early stages of development, offering insights into what our Sun might have looked like in its infancy.
The image capture a reflection nebula Lighted by three young stars named HP Tau, HP Tau G2, and HP Tau G3. HP Tau, the topmost star, is a T Tauri star, known for its variable brightness. Its luminosity changes over time, indicating the dynamic processes at play.
NASA explained that “T Tauri stars are known to have both periodic and random fluctuations in brightness.” these variations are thought to result from the chaotic conditions of a developing star, including instabilities in the surrounding accretion disk of dust and gas, material from the disk falling onto the star, and flares on the star’s surface
According to Forbes news, these stars are over 10 million years old and are still surrounded by the gas and dust clouds from which they formed. Reflection nebulae, like the one in the image, do not emit their own light but shine due to the nearby stars and the surrounding gas and dust which reflecting light.
HP Tau is located approximately 550 light-yearss away in the Taurus constellation. NASA stated, “Hubble studied HP Tau as part of an investigation into protoplanetary disks, the disks of material around stars that coalesce into planets over millions of years.”
This discovery adds to our understanding of star formation and the early stages of planetary systems, providing a glimpse into the processes that shape our universe.
