Investigators say that the structure is also producing new stars

Feb 15, 2012 13:53 GMT  ·  By
This image from the APEX telescope, a part of the Taurus Molecular Cloud, shows a sinuous filament of cosmic dust more than ten light-years long
   This image from the APEX telescope, a part of the Taurus Molecular Cloud, shows a sinuous filament of cosmic dust more than ten light-years long

A massive dust filament located in the Taurus Molecular Cloud was recently imaged by experts at the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The 10-light-year-long gas cloud stretches like a ribbon through the constellation Taurus, and is home to numerous forming stars.

According to data collected by the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope, the structure already contains numerous stars within its structure, hidden from view by thick layers of cosmic dust and hydrogen gas.

In order to get the best possible view of the filament, the team decided to use the Large APEX Bolometer Camera (LABOCA) instrument on APEX. The telescope itself is just a precursor of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), which is scheduled to become operational this year.

One of the things that are immediately obvious from the image is that multiple areas containing large volumes of gas are separated from each other. Each of those regions has the potential to create at least one new star, in addition to the ones that have already been created thus far.

LABOCA was needed for this study because the fine cosmic dust grains are only visible at wavelengths of around one millimeter. This instrument is especially well suited to conduct such an investigation, especially considering that the Taurus constellation is located about 450 light-years away from Earth.

The dust filament is usually designated with the names Barnard 211 (the upper-right part) and Barnard 213 (the lower-left part). The structure was given two names because it looks somewhat fragmented when observed in optical wavelengths.

“We know today that these dark markings are actually clouds of interstellar gas and dust grains. The dust grains – tiny particles similar to very fine soot and sand – absorb visible light, blocking our view of the rich star field behind the clouds,” a statement from ESO explains.

“The Taurus Molecular Cloud is particularly dark at visible wavelengths, as it lacks the massive stars that illuminate the nebulae in other star-formation regions such as Orion,” the press release adds.

“The dust grains themselves also emit a faint heat glow but, as they are extremely cold at around -260 degrees Celsius, their light can only be seen at wavelengths much longer than visible light, around one millimeter,” the document concludes.