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(617) 495-7462
Christine Pulliam
(617) 495-7463
pubaffairs@cfa
Release No.: 2005-34For Release: Thursday, November 03, 2005
Cosmic Cloudshine: Its Beauty Is More Than Skin Deep
Cosmic Cloudshine: Its Beauty Is More Than Skin Deep
The green billows in this color-coded near-infrared image of L1448 show newly discovered "cloudshine." Otherwise "dark" clouds of gas and dust shine faintly due to reflected ambient starlight. Cloudshine offers a way of peering below the surface of "dark" nebulae to map star-forming regions in exquisite detail. The red streaks are jets of material ejected from protostars during the accretion process.
Credit: J. Foster & A. Goodman (CfA)
High Resolution Image (jpg)
Low Resolution Image (jpg)
This image was taken with the OMEGA 2000 camera at the Calar Alto Observatory in Spain as part of the COMPLETE survey of star-forming regions.
Credit: J. Foster & A. Goodman (CfA)
High Resolution Image (jpg)
Low Resolution Image (jpg)
This color-coded near-infrared image of L1451 also shows evidence of extensive cloudshine. The near-infrared "color" of a nebula correlates to the nebula's density, and can therefore be used to map its structure. Here, dark reddish-brown regions are denser than the surrounding greenish areas. Using cloudshine, astronomers can study star-forming regions at a very small scale and learn much more about the physics of star formation.
Credit: J. Foster & A. Goodman (CfA)
High Resolution Image (jpg)
Low Resolution Image (jpg)
This image was taken with the OMEGA 2000 camera at the Calar Alto Observatory in Spain as part of the COMPLETE survey of star-forming regions.
Credit: J. Foster & A. Goodman (CfA)
High Resolution Image (jpg)
Low Resolution Image (jpg)
At optical wavelengths, the Perseus region is awash in "dark" nebulae - regions of gas and dust thick enough to block light from background stars. By looking at invisible, near-infrared wavelengths, astronomers Jonathan Foster and Alyssa Goodman discovered that these apparently "dark" clouds actually shine with reflected ambient starlight. Cloudshine images will offer a new way of precisely mapping those clouds, which mark the birthplaces of new stars. The boxed regions are L1448 (top) and L1451 (bottom), respectively.
Credit: E.E. Barnard (from his Photographic Atlas of Selected Regions of the Milky Way)
Low Resolution Image (jpg)
Credit: E.E. Barnard (from his Photographic Atlas of Selected Regions of the Milky Way)
Low Resolution Image (jpg)
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