We Are Young

Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2014: A variety of cosmic objects glow in a new image by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Just above the center of the frame lies a small young stellar object (YSO) known as SSTC2D J033038.2+303212. Positioned in the constellation of Perseus, this star shows signs of forming into a fully grown star, emanating a murky chimney of material, framed by bright bursts of gas emitted by the star. At the bottom of the frame, the highly visible swirl of gas is a reflection nebula [B77] 63, a cloud of interstellar gas that reflects light from the stars within it. The area that appears like a dark stream of smoke floating outwards from [B77] 63 is actually a dark nebula called Dobashi 4173. Dark nebulas consist of very dense clouds of material that block out the sky behind them.