{"id":795820,"date":"2025-05-01T07:12:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T12:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=795820"},"modified":"2025-05-01T07:12:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T12:12:10","slug":"huge-nearby-cloud-in-space-was-invisible-until-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=795820","title":{"rendered":"Huge nearby cloud in space was invisible \u2026 until now"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"A Vast Space Cloud, Once Hidden, on Earth\u2019s Doorstep\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4gfS-n7bQAs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/><em>An enormous cloud of molecular gas called Eos clings to the edge of a gigantic structure \u2013 the Local Bubble \u2013 that our sun resides within. Only 300 light-years away, Eos is in our cosmic neighborhood. What\u2019s the dark cloud made of? What\u2019s it mean for our knowledge of the space around us? What will be its fate? Find out in this video as astrophysicist Jack Hughes talks with EarthSky\u2019s Dave Adalian.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Looking up has never felt more important. Please donate to help EarthSky keep bringing the sky to your screen.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Molecular clouds are huge clouds of gas and dust in space<\/strong>, composed mostly of hydrogen.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Astronomers just discovered a new cloud, named Eos.<\/strong> It\u2019s one of the closest known to our solar system, but it surprisingly had remained undetected until now.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Researchers found it using a new ultraviolet observing technique,<\/strong> with the Korean satellite STSAT-1.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Molecular clouds are huge interstellar structures, composed mostly of hydrogen gas and dust. Astronomers have spotted them throughout our Milky Way galaxy and beyond. And an international team of researchers has just identified an enormous molecular cloud on Earth\u2019s doorstep, undetected until now. They said on April 27, 2025, that the cloud \u2013 named Eos \u2013 is one of the closest ever seen to our solar system. And it\u2019s one of the largest single structures ever seen in space.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers published their peer-reviewed results in <em>Nature Astronomy<\/em> on April 28, 2025.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Eos: Discovery of the Nearest CO Dark Molecular Cloud to the Sun\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QsPurtQWBTI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/><em>Eos: Discovery of a dark molecular cloud in space near our solar system. Video via Thomas M\u00fcller (HdA\/MPIA)\/ Thavisha Dharmawardena (NYU)\/ YouTube.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Meet Eos, a huge nearby cloud in space<\/h3>\n<p>Eos is a crescent-shaped molecular cloud about 300 light-years from our solar system. It resides on the edge of the Local Bubble, a huge \u201ccavity\u201d in space filled with gas, which is about 1,000 light-years across.<\/p>\n<p>And Eos is <em>big<\/em>. Even though it\u2019s just made of gas and dust, scientists estimate Eos to be 3,400 times more massive than the sun. If you could see Eos with the unaided eye, it would span 40 full moons across the sky.<\/p>\n<p>But Eos won\u2019t last forever. The researchers estimate it will disperse about 6 million years from now.<\/p>\n<p>The name Eos comes from the Greek goddess of dawn. In addition, the cloud\u2019s name refers to a proposed new space mission that would broaden the search for molecular clouds in our Milky Way galaxy.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_509309\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-509309\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-509309\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blakesley Burkhart at Rutgers University in New Jersey is the lead author of the new study about molecular clouds. Image via Rutgers University.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>A vast, invisible hydrogen cloud in space<\/h3>\n<p>So how did the astronomers find Eos? Molecular clouds are mostly hydrogen. And hydrogen molecules will \u201cglow\u201d in ultraviolet light, even though they can\u2019t be seen in regular light. So, using the far-ultraviolet spectrograph (FIMS-SPEAR) on the Korean satellite STSAT-1, the astronomers looked for the ultraviolet emission of molecular hydrogen. Lead author Blakesley Burkhart, in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences in New Jersey, said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>This is the first-ever molecular cloud discovered by looking for far-ultraviolet emission of molecular hydrogen directly. The data showed glowing hydrogen molecules detected via fluorescence in the far ultraviolet. This cloud is literally glowing in the dark. It was kind of like just waiting to be explored. This opens up new possibilities for studying the molecular universe.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Intriguingly, Eos had been \u201cinvisible\u201d to astronomers until now. Why didn\u2019t they detect it before? The researchers say it\u2019s because even though Eos is mostly hydrogen, it doesn\u2019t have a <em>lot<\/em> of it. As a result, this makes Eos what\u2019s known as a \u201cdark\u201d molecular cloud, which is difficult to detect with more conventional techniques.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"bluesky-embed\" data-bluesky-uri=\"at:\/\/did:plc:ino5jojviampvldwhtrdjxr7\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3lnxgaafmzc2b\" data-bluesky-cid=\"bafyreibhxram2hfoomegh4mhwjsqla4o5qw3pwtdy3edk6ceyf5otdkbfe\">\n<p lang=\"en\">OK, OK, so maybe it&#8217;s not about us. Turns out that researchers have identified an enormous cloud of invisible, star-forming molecular hydrogen roughly 300 light years away from Earth, which they named\u2026[wait for it]\u2026Eos! www.nature.com\/articles\/s41\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Eos (@eos.org) 2025-04-29T13:47:52.577Z<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_509311\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-509311\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2025\/04\/Eos-molecular-cloud-skyline-April-27-2025.jpg\" alt=\"Cloud in space: Illustration of a city skyline at night with a large bluish cloud in the sky above.\" width=\"800\" height=\"460\" class=\"size-full wp-image-509311\" srcset=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2025\/04\/Eos-molecular-cloud-skyline-April-27-2025.jpg 800w, https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2025\/04\/Eos-molecular-cloud-skyline-April-27-2025-300x173.jpg 300w, https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2025\/04\/Eos-molecular-cloud-skyline-April-27-2025-768x442.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-509311\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist\u2019s concept of what the Eos molecular cloud would look like if you could see it with the unaided eye in the night sky. Image via NatureLifePhoto\/ Flickr (New York City Skyline)\/ Burkhart et al. 2025\/ Rutgers University.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>New clues about the interstellar medium<\/h3>\n<p>In addition, molecular clouds like Eos in the interstellar medium \u2013 the gaseous space between stars \u2013 provide the raw material for the birth of new stars and, subsequently, new planets. Burkhart said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>When we look through our telescopes, we catch whole solar systems in the act of forming, but we don\u2019t know in detail how that happens. Our discovery of Eos is exciting because we can now directly measure how molecular clouds are forming and dissociating, and how a galaxy begins to transform interstellar gas and dust into stars and planets.<\/p>\n<p>The story of the cosmos is a story of the rearrangement of atoms over billions of years. The hydrogen that is currently in the Eos cloud existed at the time of the Big Bang and eventually fell onto our galaxy and coalesced nearby the sun. So, it\u2019s been a long journey of 13.6 billion years for these hydrogen atoms.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Co-author Thavisha Dharmawardena, a NASA Hubble Fellow at New York University, added:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The use of the far-ultraviolet fluorescence emission technique could rewrite our understanding of the interstellar medium, uncovering hidden clouds across the galaxy and even out to the farthest detectable limits of cosmic dawn.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_380456\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-380456\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2022\/01\/Local-Bubble-800x450.png\" alt=\"A giant, wispy bubble in space, with the sun near the center, and nearby stars labeled.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-large wp-image-380456\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-380456\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">View larger. | Here, we see an artist\u2019s concept of our Local Bubble, a 1,000 light-year-wide region around our sun. In this illustration, nearby star-forming regions sit on the Local Bubble\u2019s surface. The Eos molecular cloud resides near the edge of the bubble. Image via CfA\/ Catherine Zucker et al.\/ Wikipedia (public domain).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Molecular clouds near and far<\/h3>\n<p>On a related note, another Burkhart-led study, using the Webb Space Telescope, has found what might be the most <em>distant<\/em> hydrogen molecules known. Burkhart said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Using JWST, we may have found the very farthest hydrogen molecules from the sun. So, we have found both some of the closest and farthest using far-ultraviolet emission.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Bottom line: Using a new technique, astronomers have discovered a huge molecular cloud in space near our solar system, dubbed Eos. It had remained undetected until now.<\/p>\n<p>Source: A nearby dark molecular cloud in the Local Bubble revealed via H2 fluorescence<\/p>\n<p>Via Rutgers University<\/p>\n<p>Read more: Huge Local Bubble drives formation of new stars<\/p>\n<p>Read more: Dark cloud near Milky Way\u2019s center is strangely quiet<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"cp-load-after-post\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"post-author\">\n<h4>Paul Scott Anderson<\/h4>\n<p>                    View Articles\n                  <\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-tags\">\n<h6 data-udy-fe=\"text_7c58270d\">About the Author:<\/h6>\n<p>Paul Scott Anderson has had a passion for space exploration that began when he was a child when he watched Carl Sagan\u2019s Cosmos. He studied English, writing, art and computer\/publication design in high school and college. He later started his blog The Meridiani Journal in 2005, which was later renamed Planetaria. He also later started the blog Fermi Paradoxica, about the search for life elsewhere in the universe.&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\nWhile interested in all aspects of space exploration, his primary passion is planetary science and SETI. In 2011, he started writing about space on a freelance basis with Universe Today. He has also written for SpaceFlight Insider and AmericaSpace and has also been published in The Mars Quarterly. He also did some supplementary writing for the iOS app Exoplanet.&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\nHe has been writing for EarthSky since 2018, and also assists with proofing and social media.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/space\/cloud-in-space-molecular-clouds-eos\/?rand=772280\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An enormous cloud of molecular gas called Eos clings to the edge of a gigantic structure \u2013 the Local Bubble \u2013 that our sun resides within. Only 300 light-years away,&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":795821,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-795820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-sky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=795820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/795821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=795820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=795820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=795820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}