On Thusday April 17th 2014, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope viewed “the Tadpole,” (Image on the right), a clump of gas and dust making its way through Cygnus OB2 association, a loose cluster of stars some 4,700 ligh-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus.
This clump of gas and dust has given birth to protostars, which represent the earliest steps in building a star. The glowing yellow light in the “head” is the most luminous and massive star. Nearby stars firing ultraviolet radiation at IRAS 20324+4057 creates the intense blue glow, which also sculpts its "tail" into a long, wiggly shape. This clump stretches roughly a light-year from head to tail-tip, and contains gas weighing almost four times the mass of the sun.
"Tadpole (Not in a Jar)." Space.com. N.p., 17 Apr. 2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) and IPHAS
This clump of gas and dust has given birth to protostars, which represent the earliest steps in building a star. The glowing yellow light in the “head” is the most luminous and massive star. Nearby stars firing ultraviolet radiation at IRAS 20324+4057 creates the intense blue glow, which also sculpts its "tail" into a long, wiggly shape. This clump stretches roughly a light-year from head to tail-tip, and contains gas weighing almost four times the mass of the sun.
"Tadpole (Not in a Jar)." Space.com. N.p., 17 Apr. 2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) and IPHAS
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