Barnard 68 is one of the most famous dark absorption nebulae known.
What do we see in today’s NASA image?
What was previously known as a hole in the sky is now known by astronomers as a dark molecular cloud. The dense molecular gas and dust in this molecular cloud absorbs almost all of the visible light emitted by the background stars. The dark and unknown surrounding environment makes the interior of molecular clouds to become the coldest and most remote places in the universe.
This image shows a cloud in the constellation Maraphasai, known as Barnard 68, one of the most famous dark absorption nebulae. The absence of a central star indicates that Barnard 68 is relatively close. According to the measurements, this nebula is half a light year wide and is located at a distance of 500 light years from us.
How molecular clouds like Barnard 68 form is not exactly known, but it is clear that these clouds themselves are places for new stars to form. Most likely, Barnard 68 will die and form a new star system. It is also possible that this cloud is not visible in the infrared spectrum.
