Eos Molecular Cloud Archives

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report

Searching For Star Formation Towards The Eos Molecular Cloud

by Keith CowingMay 5, 2025May 5, 2025

The Eos cloud, recently discovered in the far ultraviolet via H2 fluorescence, is one of the nearest known dark molecular clouds to the Sun, with a distance spanning from ∼94−136pc.

The magenta contours in all images represent the H2 emission contour from the fluorescent emission in Fig. 1. Top left: total extinction derived by integrating the Dustribution density along the line of sight. Top middle: column density (NH) map of the Eos cloud derived from Planck 545 GHz data26 assuming T = 10 K, (Planck dust emissivity coefficient) κν = 4.73 cm2 g−1 and a distance of 100 pc. Top right: GALFA-H i column density map15. Bottom left and middle: ROSAT 0.25-keV (left) and 1-keV (middle) maps from ref. 34. The Eos cloud shows a prominent outline absorbing the soft-X-ray flux and creating a bright X-ray halo towards lower Galactic longitude. The interaction region provides a nearby example of a hot–cold gas interface. Bottom right: CO data from ref. 6; the small CO-bright region (known as MBM 40) within the on-sky cloud boundary is shown by the white arrow. -- Nature Astronomy

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release

Astrochemistry: Vast Molecular Cloud Discovered Near Our Solar System

by Keith CowingApril 30, 2025May 5, 2025

An international team of scientists led by a Rutgers University-New Brunswick astrophysicist has discovered a potentially star-forming cloud that is one of the largest single structures in the sky and […]