Taurus molecular cloud

Taurus molecular cloud
Nebula
	Taurus molecular cloud (Herschel Space Observatory)
Observation data: J2000.0 epoch
Right ascension	04h 41.0m
Declination	+25° 52′
Distance	430 ly (140 pc)
Constellation	Taurus
Notable features	Close distance, numerous molecular species
Designations	HCL 2, Heiles's cloud 2, TMC-1, Taurus molecular cloud 1

Taurus molecular cloud (green and blue) in front of HII regions (red) as seen by the Northern Sky Narrowband Survey. The Pleiades (bright green nebulae on the right side) appear to be connected in this image. Indeed, they lie at the same distance, making it likely that this object is related.

This video begins with a wide-field view of the sky, before zooming into the Taurus molecular cloud region, about 450 light-years from Earth. Dark clouds of cosmic dust grains obscure the background stars at visible wavelengths. The submillimetre-wavelength observations from the LABOCA camera on APEX reveal the heat glow of the dust grains, shown here in orange tones. The observations cover two regions in the cloud, which are known as Barnard 211 and Barnard 213. In them, newborn stars are hidden, and dense clouds of gas are on the verge of collapsing to form yet more stars.

This video pans over part of the Taurus molecular cloud region.

The Taurus molecular cloud (TMC-1) is an interstellar molecular cloud in the constellations Taurus and Auriga. It is only 140 pc (430 ly) away from Earth, making it possibly the nearest large star formation region. It hosts a stellar nursery containing hundreds of newly formed stars. The Taurus molecular cloud was identified in the past as a part of the Gould Belt, a large structure surrounding the Solar System. More recently (January 2020) the Taurus molecular cloud was identified as being part of the much larger Radcliffe wave, a wave-shaped structure in the local arm of the Milky Way.

It has been important in star formation studies at all wavelengths of Electromagnetic spectrum. The many young stars and the close proximity to Earth make it uniquely well-suited to search for protoplanetary disks and exoplanets around stars, and to identify brown dwarfs in the association. Members of this region are suited for direct imaging of young exoplanets, which glow brightly in infrared wavelengths.