Infrared dark cloud
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 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
See also
- Galactic plane
- Intergalactic star
- Star Formation
References
- ↑ http://web.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/carey/dark/dark.html
- ↑ http://www.astro.ufl.edu/~jt/irext/ms.pdf
- ↑ http://www.mpia-hd.mpg.de/homes/stein/EPoS/Onlinematerial/fuller_irdcs.pdf.gz
- ↑ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010arXiv1005.4955F
- ↑ http://iopscience.iop.org/0004-637X/715/1/310
- ↑ http://iopscience.iop.org/0004-637X/715/1/310
- ↑ http://www.astro.ufl.edu/~jt/irext/ms.pdf
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