Astronomers Map Galactic Clouds Where Stars are Born

Giant gas clouds swirl in our galaxy, birthing new stars over millions of years. Now, astronomers have begun to map the location of these massive and mysterious objects, revealing a bit more about how they function.

In order to examine these clouds, the researchers employed a telescope, called the 22 meter Mopra millimeter wave telescope, at Coonabarabran in Australia. With it, they identified galactic clouds of molecular gas, which can be up to 100 light-years across, from the carbon monoxide that they contained.

"On Earth, carbon monoxide is poisonous--a silent killer," said Michael Burton, one of the researchers, in a news release. "But in space, it is the second most abundant molecule and the easiest to see. One of the largest unresolved mysteries in galactic astronomy is how these giant, diffuse clouds form in the interstellar medium. This process plays a key role in the cosmic cycle of birth and death of stars."

In addition to these clouds, the researchers are also looking for "dark" galactic gas clouds, which are unseen clouds that contain very little carbon monoxide. These clouds are assumed to mostly be made up of molecular hydrogen, which is too cold to detect. More specifically, the scientists are searching for these dark clouds based on the presence of carbon atoms in the clouds.

In fact, if these dark clouds are found, they could end up being the "missing" source of gamma rays. These rays are produced when high-energy cosmic rays interact with the nuclei of gas atoms or molecules they encounter when traveling through space.

"The source of more than 30 percent of gamma rays remains unidentified-another big mystery our research could throw light on," said Burton in a news release.

The findings could reveal a little bit more about these massive birthing centers for stars. In addition, ongoing research could show exactly where these "missing" gamma rays come from. This, in turn, could allow scientists to learn a bit more about the universe we live in. Currently this project is ongoing, which means that more findings will emerge as the astronomers continue to comb our galaxy with these instruments.

The findings that show the first stage of this work are published in the journal Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia.