Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Cosmology
Ed Hessler
What looks like a hole in the sky is really a dark molecular cloud which is a very dusty place that absorbs most of the visible light emitted from the stars in its background.
It is known as Barnard 68 which is about 500 light years away and the cloud half a light-year across. Both are those large numbers which scientists studying the cosmos use as casually and frequently as we do when describing our earth-bound ideas of distances.
There is much to be explained in this image and APOD does it. What an event it must have been when it was first found. It begged for explanation and you will read that their formation processes are still not understood.
The image reminded me of my limited, daily, civilian idea of light. There is more to light than the visible and when the cloud is examined in the infrared it can be looked straight through.
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