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 the galactic plane.[1][2]

Composite image showing young stars in and around molecular cloud Cepheus B.
Infrared
Star formation

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

[7]

See also

References
  1. "Infrared Dark Clouds".
  2. http://www.astro.ufl.edu/~jt/irext/ms.pdf
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-01-01. Retrieved 2010-12-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. http://www.astro.ufl.edu/~jt/irext/ms.pdf
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