Above and Beyond: Thackeray’s Globules

 

 

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach.

 

All images, illustrations, and videos courtesy of NASA, ESA, and STScI except:

 

·       Image of reflection nebula NGC 1788 courtesy of T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), H. Schweiker (WIYN and NOAO/AURA/NSF) & S. Pakzad (NOAO/AURA/NSF)

·       Taurus constellation drawing from Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia by Johannes Hevelius, courtesy of the United States Naval Observatory

·       Orion constellation photo courtesy of Akira Fujii

·       Illustration of circumstellar disk and jets courtesy of ESO/L. Calçada/M. Kornmesser

·       Image of HH 34 jets courtesy of ESO

·       Star formation animation courtesy of Aimei Kutt (Brown University/STScI)

 

 

Written by Vanessa Thomas

Designed by John Godfrey

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 Red space dust and yellow stars, with cloudy black areas throughout. 

Text, THACKERAY'S GLOBULES. HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE. Dark, secretive clouds of dust and gas float against the backdrop of a brightly lit star-forming nebula. 

Similar clouds, when probed by astronomers, are frequently found to hide embryonic stars within their murky shrouds of dust and gas. 

These clouds, however, show signs of disruption and breakup -- likely side effects of residing near hot, massive stars that have already burst to life. 

Such duress may prevent these dark clouds from ever producing stars of their own.