An infant star lights up the nebula IC 2631 in this remarkable new image from the MPG/ESO 2.2-m telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory, Chile.
This image from ESO’s La Silla Observatory shows the reflection nebula IC 2631. Image credit: ESO.
IC 2631, also known as Ced 112 and BRAN 341C, is a so-called reflection nebula, a dust cloud that reflects light from a nearby star into space, creating a stunning light show.
This object is the brightest nebula in the Chamaeleon Complex, a large region of gas and dust clouds that harbors numerous newborn and still-forming stars.
The complex is located in the southern constellation Chamaeleon, approximately 500 light-years away.
IC 2631 is illuminated by a very young star known as HD 97300.
Despite its dominating presence, the heft of HD 97300 should be kept in perspective. It is a T Tauri star, the youngest visible stage for relatively small stars. As these stars mature and reach adulthood they will lose mass and shrink.
But during the T Tauri phase these stars have not yet contracted to the more modest size that they will maintain for billions of years as main sequence stars.
These fledging stars already have surface temperatures similar to their main sequence phase and accordingly, because T Tauri-phase objects are essentially jumbo versions of their later selves, they look brighter in their oversized youth than in maturity.
They have not yet started to fuse hydrogen into helium in their cores, like normal main sequence stars, but are just starting to flex their thermal muscles by generating heat from contraction.
Wide field image of the reflection nebula IC 2631 and surroundings. Image credit: ESO.
Reflection nebula, like the one spawned by HD 97300, merely scatter starlight back out into space. Starlight that is more energetic, such as UV radiation pouring forth from very hot new stars, can ionize nearby gas, making it emit light of its own.
These emission nebulae indicate the presence of hotter and more powerful stars, which in their maturity can be observed across thousands of light-years.
