The detection of the celestial body by a Rutgers-led team could redefine understanding of interstellar medium.
The detection of the celestial body by a Rutgers-led team could redefine understanding of interstellar medium.
An international team of scientists led by a Rutgers University-New Brunswick astrophysicist has discovered a potentially star-forming cloud that is one of the largest single structures in the sky and among the closest to the sun and Earth ever to be detected.
The vast ball of hydrogen, long invisible to scientists, was revealed by looking for its main constituent – molecular hydrogen. The finding marks the first time a molecular cloud has been detected with light emitted in the far-ultraviolet realm of the electromagnetic spectrum and opens the way to further explorations using the approach.
The scientists have named the molecular hydrogen cloud “Eos,” after the Greek goddess of mythology who is the personification of dawn. Their discovery is outlined in a study published in Nature Astronomy.
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Image: Blakesley Burkhart, a Rutgers University astrophysicist, has led a team that discovered the molecular hydrogen gas cloud, Eos. (Credit: Rutgers University)
