Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 January 29 [2]A dark comma-shaped cloud appears in the middle of a dense field of stars. No stars are visible through the center of the cloud. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Barnard 68: Dark Molecular Cloud Image Credit: [3]FORS Team, [4]8.2-meter VLT Antu, [5]ESO Explanation: Where did all the stars go? What used to be considered a hole in the sky is now known to astronomers as a dark [6]molecular cloud. Here, a high concentration of [7]dust and [8]molecular gas absorb practically all the [9]visible light emitted from background stars. The eerily dark surroundings help make the interiors of [10]molecular clouds some of the coldest and most [11]isolated places in the universe. One of the most notable of these [12]dark absorption nebulae is a cloud toward the constellation [13]Ophiuchus known as [14]Barnard 68, [15]pictured here. That no stars are visible in the center indicates that [16]Barnard 68 is relatively nearby, with measurements placing it about 500 light-years away and half a [17]light-year across. It is [18]not known exactly how [19]molecular clouds like [20]Barnard 68 form, but it is known that these clouds are themselves [21]likely [22]places for [23]new stars to form. In fact, [24]Barnard 68 itself has [25]been found likely to collapse and form a new star system. It is possible to [26]look right through the cloud in [27]infrared light. Postcards from the Universe 2022: [28]APOD Year in Review Tomorrow's picture: bright marking on the sky __________________________________________________________________ [29]< | [30]Archive | [31]Submissions | [32]Index | [33]Search | [34]Calendar | [35]RSS | [36]Education | [37]About APOD | [38]Discuss | [39]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [40]Robert Nemiroff ([41]MTU) & [42]Jerry Bonnell ([43]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [44]Specific rights apply. [45]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [46]ASD at [47]NASA / [48]GSFC, [49]NASA Science Activation & [50]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2301/barnard68v2_vlt_4000.jpg 3. https://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/paranal/instruments/fors.html 4. http://www.eso.org/projects/vlt/ 5. https://www.eso.org/ 6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecule 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030706.html 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap970430.html 9. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/09_visiblelight 10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbdwTwB8jtc 11. http://lh5.ggpht.com/__zoKJ77EvEc/TUunWxcWVlI/AAAAAAAAKyc/JW7UNzSdeS4/house-ellidaey5%5B2%5D.jpg 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/dark_nebulae.html 13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiuchus 14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnard_68 15. https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0102/ 16. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Emerson_Barnard 17. http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html 18. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9uuqXXT7VYo/hqdefault.jpg 19. https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/m/Molecular+Cloud 20. https://www.eso.org/public/videos/eso9934a/ 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201206.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221020.html 23. https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve 24. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009ApJ...695.1308B/abstract 25. http://www.universetoday.com/2009/06/09/astronomers-predict-birth-of-a-new-star/ 26. http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso9934/ 27. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/07_infraredwaves 28. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAk0ZUwG60s 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230128.html 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 33. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 38. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230129 39. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230130.html 40. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 41. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 42. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 43. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 44. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 45. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 46. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 47. https://www.nasa.gov/ 48. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 49. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 50. http://www.mtu.edu/