McNeil's Nebula

A timely discovery by American amateur astronomer Jay McNeil, followed immediately by observations at the Gemini Observatory, has provided a rare glimpse into the slow, yet violent birth of a star about 1,500 light-years away. The resulting findings reveal some of the strongest stellar winds ever detected around an embryonic Sun-like star. Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph image of the McNeil Nebula obtained on Feb 14th with the Frederick C. Gillett Gemini Telescope on Mauna Kea Hawaii.