NASA Hubble Captures Triple Star System 550 Light Years Away

HP Tau is the brightest star among these three. This star is a baby star. Our Sun is said to be 4.6 billion years old. HP Tau is said to be only 10 million years old. NASA has called it T Tauri star in which nuclear fusion has not started yet. But it is also on its way to becoming a bright star like our Sun.

These young stars are often found wrapped in dust and gas left behind after their birth, NASA said in a press release. This is the nebula rotating near HP Tau. The illumination of HP Tau is not stable, it seems to fluctuate. Such changes are not stable. They are affected by the atmosphere of a newly born star.

This disk revolving around the star works to nourish the star. Besides, some substances also keep falling on it. Apart from this, presence of large sunspots on the surface of the star can also be the reason for the irregular brightness of the star. HP Tau is located 550 light years away from Earth. Unlike some other nebulae, it is not producing its own light. Instead, it is acting like a giant astronomical mirror, reflecting light from nearby stars.

Describing the Reflection Nebula, NASA has said that it is something like a cloud of fog appears in front of a car when its headlights are on on a foggy night. American space agency NASA keeps sharing space related events and latest pictures from time to time on its social media platform. These often also include pictures captured from the Hubble Space Telescope.