On arXiv today, a very nice paper shows that one of the largest optically dark gas clouds isn't quite optically dark after all : it has at least one small patch of very new star formation. It's optically pathetic but the data is good enough that it's definitely real. This has implications for the formation of the cloud itself, which now looks more likely to be the result of ram pressure stripping from one of the galaxies in the vicinity. Many questions still remain, however, not least as to why only a very small part of the cloud is forming stars and why it's apparently only just started doing so.

#Science
#Astronomy
#Astrophysics
#Galaxies

https://llittlephysicists.blogspot.com/2024/02/taking-galactic-paternity-test.html