Illustration of the protostar HOPS 383 surrounded by a donut-shaped cocoon of material (dark brown) that is falling in towards the central star. A protostar is a young star that is gaining mass through the gravitational attraction of material from the surrounding cloud. Much of the light from the protostar is obscured but X-rays (blue) can penetrate the surrounding cloud. Infrared light is scattered off the inside of the cocoon and is shown as white and yellow.