Herschel (Space Observatory) finds a hole in space

[Bill McBlueState]

Nothing revolutionary here, but this is based on work my team did. Expect to see a lot more talk of Herschel in the coming week; there was a major conference in the Netherlands last week, and now the results are being released to the public.

Full story here.

ESA’s Herschel infrared space telescope has made an unexpected discovery: a hole in space. The hole has provided astronomers with a surprising glimpse into the end of the star-forming process.

Stars are born in dense clouds of dust and gas that can now be studied in unprecedented detail with Herschel. Although jets and winds of gas have been seen coming from young stars in the past, it has always been a mystery exactly how a star uses these to blow away its surroundings and emerge from its birth cloud. Now, for the first time, Herschel may be seeing an unexpected step in this process.

A cloud of bright reflective gas known to astronomers as NGC 1999 sits next to a black patch of sky. For most of the 20th century, such black patches have been known to be dense clouds of dust and gas that block light from passing through.

When Herschel looked in its direction to study nearby young stars, the cloud continued to look black. But wait! That should not be the case. Herschel’s infrared eyes are designed to see into such clouds. Either the cloud was immensely dense or something was wrong.

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[Scurrilous]

1. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. cool story. Congrats on your connection to the discovery

[Old Troop]

3. Very cool, but won't all the stuff of the Universe just leak out?