Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Taurus (Tau)
CW Tauri, Kent Wood
CW Tauri
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CW Tauri, Kent Wood
CW Tauri
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Description

Here we see the adolescent star CW Tauri nestled in part of the Taurus Molecular Cloud.   It is the lower right star of the triad found at the center of this stellar cavern.  It is a spectroscopic K3 T-Tauri star, cooler and more orange/red than our sun.  This Young Stellar Object has bipolar jets that are not visible at this scale and wavelength.  At Ha and SII wavelengths, a nearly one parsec optical out flow has been detected. Herbig-Haro object 827 can be seen to the right, and is thought to be associated with the outflow. The T-Tauri star varies in luminosity on a fairy short time scale. (As much as 2 magnitudes in as many months)  This variability could be due to a variety of causes, including mass infall from the circumstellar accretion disk or periodic transiting of surrounding clouds.  As time passes the protostar will evolve to a point where critical core temperatures allow fusion to occur and a main sequence star is born. 

“Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels” (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie) 

Image acquisition information:
Date:  Nov/Dec 2022
Location: Fairview, UT
Scope: Planewave 17
Camera: QHY 600 M
LRGB: 320:270:330:310 (min) - 21 hr

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CW Tauri, Kent Wood