APOD
BHR 71: Stars, Clouds, and Jets
January 27, 2003J. Alves
(ESO),
E. Tolstoy (Groningen),
R. Fosbury (ST-ECF), &
R. Hook (ST-ECF),
VLT
About This Image
What is happening to molecular cloud BHR 71? Quite possible, a binary star system is forming inside. Most stars in our Galaxy are part of binary star systems, but few have ever been seen in formation. Recent observations of dust-darkened Bok Globule BHR 71, however, show evidence for two young stars forming deep in the cloud, likely close enough to form a binary. Isolated BHR 71 spans about one light year and lies only about 600 light years away in the southern sky. The brighter embedded star -- not visible here -- is about 10 times as bright as the Sun and drives the jet that swept out the empty lane. The above four-color image was taken with a Very Large Telescope in Chile.
On This Day in Space History
On January 27, 1967, the Apollo 1 fire claimed the lives of astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee during a launch pad test.
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