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Pearly NebulaLight from the young star IRAS 10082-5647 (center) reflects off a nearby nebula, giving the interstellar cloud a pearly glow in a newly released picture made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.At just a few million years old, the star is a youngster that has yet to begin fusing hydrogen in its core. For now the star is heating itself via gravitational collapse—as stellar material falls in on itself, the core becomes denser and builds up immense pressure.Eventually the star's core will get dense enough for fusion to begin, and IRAS 10082-5647 will enter what's called the main sequence phase of its life.
Image courtesy ESA/NASA

Space Pictures This Week: Gamma-Ray Burst, Chile Volcano, More

The space station gets a delayed delivery, a brilliant explosion lights up the early universe, and more in the week's best space pictures.

November 5, 2011