HUBBLE sees the new star FS Tau proclaiming its presence with cosmic light show

[AVAO]

Jets emerge from the cocoon of a newly forming star to blast across space, slicing through the gas and dust of a shining nebula, in this new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA, ESA, and K. Stapelfeldt (NASA JPL), G. Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

---

FS Tau is a multi-star system made up of FS Tau A, the bright star-like object near the middle of the image, and FS Tau B (Haro 6-5B), the bright object to the far right that is partially obscured by a dark, vertical lane of dust. These young objects are surrounded by the softly illuminated gas and dust of this stellar nursery. The system is only about 2.8 million years old, very young for a star system. Our Sun, by contrast, is about 4.6 billion years old.

FS Tau B is a newly forming star, or protostar, and is surrounded by a protoplanetary disc, a pancake-shaped collection of dust and gas left over from the formation of the star that will eventually coalesce into planets. The thick dust lane, seen nearly edge-on, separates what are thought to be the illuminated surfaces of the disc.
[...]

... more

TY4YA Jac

[Ann]

Jets emerge from the cocoon of a newly forming star to blast across space, slicing through the gas and dust of a shining nebula, in this new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA, ESA, and K. Stapelfeldt (NASA JPL), G. Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

---

FS Tau is a multi-star system made up of FS Tau A, the bright star-like object near the middle of the image, and FS Tau B (Haro 6-5B), the bright object to the far right that is partially obscured by a dark, vertical lane of dust. These young objects are surrounded by the softly illuminated gas and dust of this stellar nursery. The system is only about 2.8 million years old, very young for a star system. Our Sun, by contrast, is about 4.6 billion years old.

FS Tau B is a newly forming star, or protostar, and is surrounded by a protoplanetary disc, a pancake-shaped collection of dust and gas left over from the formation of the star that will eventually coalesce into planets. The thick dust lane, seen nearly edge-on, separates what are thought to be the illuminated surfaces of the disc.
[...]

... more

TY4YA Jac

I checked out FS Tau on Simbad. As expected it is one of those itty bitty little red dwarf star (or stars), the dime a dozen stars of the Universe.

The way I understand it, many astronomers are very enthusiastic about the little red dwarf stars and seem to think that they are the perfect repositories of life in the Universe. (Or, suppositories of life, as Leonard Nimoy accidentally happened to say when his Mr Spock was supposed to say "repositories".)

As for the idea that red dwarfs would be better at nurturing life on their planets than G-type stars like the Sun, I can't help thinking that this is a case of looking for your keys under the lamppost because the light is better there.

---

But when it comes to planets orbiting red dwarfs, the situation is reversed compared with the keys under the lamppost. The light is not as blinding when the star that the planets are orbiting is a red dwarf. So maybe the astronomers can at least detect life on a red dwarf planet in the (unlikely?) case that it is actually there!

Ann

[AVAO]

Jets emerge from the cocoon of a newly forming star to blast across space, slicing through the gas and dust of a shining nebula, in this new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA, ESA, and K. Stapelfeldt (NASA JPL), G. Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

---

FS Tau is a multi-star system made up of FS Tau A, the bright star-like object near the middle of the image, and FS Tau B (Haro 6-5B), the bright object to the far right that is partially obscured by a dark, vertical lane of dust. These young objects are surrounded by the softly illuminated gas and dust of this stellar nursery. The system is only about 2.8 million years old, very young for a star system. Our Sun, by contrast, is about 4.6 billion years old.

FS Tau B is a newly forming star, or protostar, and is surrounded by a protoplanetary disc, a pancake-shaped collection of dust and gas left over from the formation of the star that will eventually coalesce into planets. The thick dust lane, seen nearly edge-on, separates what are thought to be the illuminated surfaces of the disc.
[...]

... more

TY4YA Jac

I checked out FS Tau on Simbad. As expected it is one of those itty bitty little red dwarf star (or stars), the dime a dozen stars of the Universe.

The way I understand it, many astronomers are very enthusiastic about the little red dwarf stars and seem to think that they are the perfect repositories of life in the Universe. (Or, suppositories of life, as Leonard Nimoy accidentally happened to say when his Mr Spock was supposed to say "repositories".)

As for the idea that red dwarfs would be better at nurturing life on their planets than G-type stars like the Sun, I can't help thinking that this is a case of looking for your keys under the lamppost because the light is better there.

---

But when it comes to planets orbiting red dwarfs, the situation is reversed compared with the keys under the lamppost. The light is not as blinding when the star that the planets are orbiting is a red dwarf. So maybe the astronomers can at least detect life on a red dwarf planet in the (unlikely?) case that it is actually there!

Ann

ThanX Ann 4 your comment!

I think the little FS Tau B puts on quite a spectacular light show for his young age,
like HH 30, even if they doesn't yet come close to HH 24 or HH 111

Jac

HH 30

Click to view full size image

HH24

Click to view full size image

HH111

Click to view full size image

Credit: NASA/ESA (HST)

[Christian G.]

TY4YA Jac

I checked out FS Tau on Simbad. As expected it is one of those itty bitty little red dwarf star (or stars), the dime a dozen stars of the Universe.

The way I understand it, many astronomers are very enthusiastic about the little red dwarf stars and seem to think that they are the perfect repositories of life in the Universe. (Or, suppositories of life, as Leonard Nimoy accidentally happened to say when his Mr Spock was supposed to say "repositories".)

As for the idea that red dwarfs would be better at nurturing life on their planets than G-type stars like the Sun, I can't help thinking that this is a case of looking for your keys under the lamppost because the light is better there.

---

But when it comes to planets orbiting red dwarfs, the situation is reversed compared with the keys under the lamppost. The light is not as blinding when the star that the planets are orbiting is a red dwarf. So maybe the astronomers can at least detect life on a red dwarf planet in the (unlikely?) case that it is actually there!

Ann

ThanX Ann 4 your comment!

I think the little FS Tau B puts on quite a spectacular light show for his young age,
like HH 30, even if they doesn't yet come close to HH 24 or HH 111

Jac

HH 30

Click to view full size image

HH24

Click to view full size image

HH111

Click to view full size image

Credit: NASA/ESA (HST)

I'll say! In particular that image of HH 111 looks impressively dynamic.

[Ann]

Unfortunately I could find no information about the star driving HH 30. HH 111 is another matter. According to Wikipedia, The HH 111 driving force is a 25 L_☉ class 1 protostar, so, in other words, it is 25 times brighter than the Sun. Already! Very young stars are always a bit faint, and they grow brighter over time. The protostar driving HH 111 is as bright as Sirius already, but Sirius is a mature star, whose age according to Wikipedia is some 240 million years. So what about the age of HH 111 and its protostar?

Wikipedia wrote:

HH 111 is about 1300 light years (400 parsec) distant from earth and the central source is IRAS 05491+0247, also called VLA 1.[2] This source is the driving source of the jets and it is a class I protostar with a luminosity of about 25 L_☉. This protostar is embedded in a 30 M_☉ cloud core. The dynamical age of the complex is only 800 years.

800 years! Okay, that must refer to the Herbig Haro jets, not to the protostar itself, IRAS 05491+0247, which must be way older. But my guess is that the protostar is no older than a million years, making it ~ 250 times younger than Sirius.

And it is definitely more massive than the Sun! If you ask me, due to its brightness, it can't be less than 2 solar masses. It could well be more. It may or may not be a future Regulus, alpha star of constellation Leo. Regulus is almost 4 solar masses and over 300 times as luminous as the Sun, so maybe protostar IRAS 05491+0247 is not - or will not become - that massive.

Blue B-type star Regulus, touching the ecliptic. Credit: Akira Fuji/David Mlain.

---

But surely IRAS 05491+0247 must be - or will become - a Herbig Ae/Be star!

Wikipedia wrote:

A Herbig Ae/Be star (HAeBe) is a pre-main-sequence star – a young (<10 Myr) star of spectral types A or B. These stars are still embedded in gas-dust envelopes and are sometimes accompanied by circumstellar disks.[1] Hydrogen and calcium emission lines are observed in their spectra. They are 2-8 Solar mass (M☉) objects, still existing in the star formation (gravitational contraction) stage and approaching the main sequence (i.e. they are not burning hydrogen in their center).

For comparison, FS Tau is 0.03 times as luminous as the Sun, while IRAS 05491+0247 is, as I said, 25 times more luminous than our own dear Sol! No wonder the jets of IRAS 05491+0247 are so impressive!

HH 111. Credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / B. Nisini.

---

HH 24 is even more impressive-looking than HH 111. Unfortunately, I have found no information about the properties of the protostar driving these jets.

HH 24. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Padgett (GSFC), T. Megeath (University of Toledo), and B. Reipurth (University of Hawaii)

---

Ann