Infrared dark cloud
Appearance
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Cepheus_B.jpg/220px-Cepheus_B.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Carina_Nebula_in_infrared_light_%28captured_by_the_Hubble_Space_Telescope%29.jpg/300px-Carina_Nebula_in_infrared_light_%28captured_by_the_Hubble_Space_Telescope%29.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Eagle_nebula_pillars.jpg/220px-Eagle_nebula_pillars.jpg)
An infrared dark cloud (IRDC) is a cold, dense region of a giant molecular cloud. They can be seen in silhouette against the bright diffuse mid-infrared emission from the galactic plane.[1][2]
Discovery
Infrared dark clouds have only been recently discovered in 1996 using the ISO [3] and therefore are in need of further research.[4]
Importance
Astronomers believe that they represent the earliest stage in the formation of high-mass stars [5] and are therefore of great importance for understanding the star formation process as a whole.[6]
Statistics and Mass
![]() | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2010) |
See also
References
- ^ "Infrared Dark Clouds".
- ^ http://www.astro.ufl.edu/~jt/irext/ms.pdf
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-01-01. Retrieved 2010-12-04.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Frieswijk, W. W. F.; Shipman, R. F. (2010). "Searching for dark clouds in the outer galactic plane. I. A statistical approach for identifying extended red(dened) regions in 2MASS". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 515: 51. arXiv:1005.4955. Bibcode:2010A&A...515A..51F. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200913000.
- ^ Rathborne, J. M.; Jackson, J. M.; Chambers, E. T.; Stojimirovic, I.; Simon, R.; Shipman, R.; Frieswijk, W. (2010). "The Early Stages of Star Formation in Infrared Dark Clouds: Characterizing the Core Dust Properties". The Astrophysical Journal. 715 (1): 310–322. arXiv:1003.3193. Bibcode:2010ApJ...715..310R. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/715/1/310.
- ^ Rathborne, J. M.; Jackson, J. M.; Chambers, E. T.; Stojimirovic, I.; Simon, R.; Shipman, R.; Frieswijk, W. (2010). "The Early Stages of Star Formation in Infrared Dark Clouds: Characterizing the Core Dust Properties". The Astrophysical Journal. 715 (1): 310–322. arXiv:1003.3193. Bibcode:2010ApJ...715..310R. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/715/1/310.
- ^ http://www.astro.ufl.edu/~jt/irext/ms.pdf