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Showing posts with label Nabula. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nabula. Show all posts

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Fire in the dark clouds


The Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) in Chile offers a beautiful view of clouds of cosmic dust in the group Orion. In observable light, this dense interstellar cloud appears dark and solid. The LABOCA camera on APEX, however, can detect the heat radiation emitted by dust and so do the hideouts of the just emerging star locate. One of these dark clouds is not what it seems.

Dense clouds of cosmic gas and dust in space are the birthplaces of new stars. In visible light, the dust appears dark and opaque so that it hides the stars behind.