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| « back to overview Nebula | Load higher resolution (1800 x 1200 Pixel 3500 x 2300 Pixel) | Object description |
LDN 637 is a strongly segmented dark and molecular cloud complex in the constellation Eagle, in the middle of the so-called "Aquila Rift", a dark region of the Milky Way, which is full of dark clouds. The dense clouds are about 300 to 600 light-years from the solar system and spread over a true area of about 10 light-years.
In two places the dust clouds reflect the light of nearby stars. One is GN 19.18.0 and the other is HH 32, a variable T Tauri star. These objects are signs of just active star formation. They are associated with compact emission nebulae (Herbig-Haro objects). Read more at this URL. And here are images and information about HH 32, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope.
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The
catalog designation LDN 673 comes from the "Lynds'
Catalogue of Dark Nebulae" compiled by astronomer B.T. Lynds in the
early 1960s. His catalog included over 2000 gas and dust clouds within the
Milky Way. These galactic gas and dust clouds are not to be compared with terrestrial clouds in the earth atmosphere. By terrestrial standards, the density of galactic clouds is more like a vacuum. Nevertheless, they are dense enough to completely block the light from stars behind them. The LDN 763 complex of dark clouds contains up to one million solar masses of matter. Enough matter to form new stars and star clusters. « Click here or the thumbnail to load a large annoted image and a size comparison to the full moon. |
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