The large cloud looms in the very center of this image of the galactic plane from Spitzer. A new study takes advantage of the shadows cast by the cloud's darkest clumps to measure the cloud's overall structure and mass.

May 21st, 2014

spitzer_sig14-010b

Astronomers have found cosmic clumps so dark, dense and dusty that they throw the deepest shadows ever recorded. The clumps were discovered within a huge cosmic cloud of gas and dust.

May 21st, 2014

spitzer_sig14-010

Artist concept of the Herschel Space Observatory in space. The Herschel mission, a trailblazing space observatory that provided a unique view of our cosmos during its almost four years of operations, leaves a legacy of treasured data, thousands of scientific papers, as well as a new generation of astronomers who cut their professional teeth on this remarkable endeavour.

September 21st, 2017

nhsc_nhsc2017-005a

This image shows Rho Ophiuchi, a vast stellar nursery where new stars take shape from billowing clouds of gas, as viewed by the Herschel Space Observatory.

September 18th, 2017

nhsc_nhsc2017-002a

This mosaic combines several observations of the Taurus Molecular Cloud performed by the Herschel Space Observatory. Located about 450 light-years from us, in the constellation Taurus, the Bull, this vast complex of interstellar clouds is where a myriad of stars are being born, and is the closest large region of star formation.

September 18th, 2017

nhsc_nhsc2017-002c

Pictured in this image by the Herschel Space Observatory is the Orion B molecular cloud, a vast star-forming complex in the constellation Orion, the Hunter. Invisible to our eyes, these interstellar clouds are located near Alnitak, one of the stars in Orion's Belt.

September 18th, 2017

nhsc_nhsc2017-002b