Nebula RY Tauri. This small star birth region,also known as RY Tau,is situated at the edge of the Taurus molecular cloud,450 light-years from Earth. The central star (bright area,lower centre) can be seen emerging from its natal cloud of gas and dust. This young star is known to vary in brightness,illuminating a region that spans about two-thirds of a light-year across. It is still forming and collapsing,in a few million years it's winds will clear the gas and dust clouds as it settles down to become a steady main sequence star like the Sun. What remains could well include a planetary system. Image obtained by the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS),at the Gemini North Observatory,Hawaii,USA |