A small, dense cloud of gas and dust called CB 130-3 blots out the centre of this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. CB 130-3 is an object known as a dense core, a compact agglomeration of gas and dust. This particular dense core is in the constellation Serpens, and seems to billow across a field of background stars.
Dense cores like CB 130-3 are the birthplaces of stars, and as such are of particular interest to astronomers. During the collapse of these cores enough mass can accumulate in one place to reach the temperatures and densities required to ignite hydrogen fusion, marking the birth of a new star. While it may not be obvious from this image, a compact object teetering on the brink of becoming a fully fledged star is embedded deep within CB 130-3.
Astronomers used Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3
to better understand the environment surrounding this fledgling star.
As this image shows, the density of CB 130-3 isn’t constant; the outer
edges of the cloud consist of only tenuous wisps, whereas at its core CB
130-3 blots out background light entirely. The gas and dust making up
CB 130-3 affect not only the brightness but also the colour of
background stars, with stars towards the centre the cloud appearing
redder than their counterparts at the outskirts of this image.
Astronomers used Hubble to measure this reddening effect and chart out
the density of CB 130-3, providing insights into the inner structure of
this stellar nursery.
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