History of Earth the third atmosphere, rich in oxygen, emerged when bacteria began to produce oxygen about 2.8 Ga. In early models for the formation of the atmosphere and ocean, the second atmosphere was formed by outgassing of volatiles from the Earth's interior. Now it is considered likely that many of the volatiles were delivered during accretion by a process known as "impact degassing" in which incoming bodies vaporize on impact. The ocean and atmosphere would, therefore, have started to form even as the Earth formed. The new atmosphere probably contained water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and smaller amounts of other gases. Planetesimals
Messier 78 two B-type stars, and , are responsible for making the cloud of dust in M78 visible by reflecting their light. The M78 cloud contains a cluster of stars that is visible in the infrared. Due to gravity, the molecular gas in the nebula has fragmented into a heirarchy of clumps, the denser cores of which about to form stars with masses of up to . About 45 variable stars of the "T Tauri" type, young stars still in the process of formation as well as some 17 Herbig–Haro objects are known in M78. Messier 78 Messier 78 or M 78,