AFGL 2591 is a star forming region in the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

Cygnus. Its dense cloud of gas and dust make its interior invisible to optical telescopes. Images in the infrared show a bright

young stellar object Young stellar object (YSO) denotes a star in its early stage of evolution. This class consists of two groups of objects: protostars and pre-main-sequence stars. Classification by spectral energy distribution A star forms by accumulation of mate ...

, with an associated

reflection nebula Reflection or reflexion may refer to: Science and technology * Reflection (physics), a common wave phenomenon ** Specular reflection, reflection from a smooth surface *** Mirror image, a reflection in a mirror or in water ** Signal reflection, in s ...

seen as a glowing cone projecting from the young star. A cluster of stars is forming within the

molecular cloud A molecular cloud, sometimes called a stellar nursery (if star formation is occurring within), is a type of interstellar cloud, the density and size of which permit absorption nebulae, the formation of molecules (most commonly molecular hydrogen ...

, but most of the

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

radiation is coming from this star, AFGL 2591-VLA3. Initially AFGL 2591 was thought to be a single young, massive star expelling clouds of gas and dust in multiple events. It was estimated to be about 10 times the mass of the

sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

and at a distance of only .

References

Cygnus (constellation) Molecular clouds Reflection nebulae Star-forming regions {{Nebula-stub