V1025 Tauri

From Adam Block: "The brightest star in the center is called a Herbig Ae/Be star. It is captured here in the very earliest stages of stellar evolution as it collapses to become a mature star. Nuclear fusion in its center has started- but the energy output is not yet powerful enough to disperse the natal clouds of dust surrounding it. With wonderful shadow play, these clouds of dust present an intricacy and fragility that is testament to their ephemeral fate. On the time scales of stars this stage is extremely short-lived and few examples look quite like it. It is a mystery as to why these kinds of stars are often born in multiple star systems.

This image, totaling more than 34 hours of exposure time, started from only the hint of something interesting based on available imagery of the region. The Taurus Molecular cloud continues to offer beautiful objects and I consider this image the most interesting one I have taken in years. I didn't know how it would come out since there are no commensurate references to compare it with."

The photo from which our gallery was drawn is HERE and the full-size photo is HERE.