Chamaeleon Complex tagged posts

A newly formed star lights up the surrounding cosmic clouds in this image from ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. Dust particles in the vast clouds that surround the star HD 97300 diffuse its light, like a car headlight in enveloping fog, and create the reflection nebula IC 2631. Although HD 97300 is in the spotlight for now, the very dust that makes it so hard to miss heralds the birth of additional, potentially scene-stealing, future stars. Credit: ESO

The glowing region in a new image from MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope is a reflection nebula known as IC 2631. These objects are clouds of cosmic dust that reflect light from a nearby star into space, creating a stunning light show like the one captured here...

DI Cha star system. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt Text credit: European Space Agency

Star system is DI Cha, and while only 2 stars are apparent, it is actually a quadruple system containing 2 sets of binary stars. As this is a relatively young star system it is surrounded by dust. The young stars are molding the dust into a wispy wrap. The host of this alluring interaction between dust and star is the Chamaeleon I dark cloud — 1 of 3 such clouds that comprise a large star-forming region known as the Chamaeleon Complex. DI Cha’s juvenility is not remarkable within this region...