Explanation:
Rich star fields
and glowing hydrogen gas silhouette
dense, opaque clouds of interstellar gas and dust
in this Hubble Space Telescope
close-up of IC 2944, a bright star forming region
in Centaurus, 5,900 light-years away.
The largest of these
dark globules,
first spotted by South African astronomer
A. D. Thackeray in 1950,
is likely two separate but overlapping clouds, each more than one
light-year wide.
Combined the clouds contain material
equivalent to about
15 times the mass of the Sun, but will they actually
collapse to form massive stars?
Along with other data, the
sharp
Hubble images indicate that
Thackeray's globules are fractured and churning as a result
of intense ultraviolet radiation from young, hot stars already
energizing and heating the bright
emission nebula.
These and similar dark globules
known to be associated with other
star forming regions may ultimately be dissipated
by their hostile environment --
like cosmic lumps of
butter in a hot frying pan.
Note : APOD Editor to Speak in New York on Jan. 2
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