Above and Beyond: Thackeray’s Globules

 

 

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach.

 

All images, illustrations, and videos courtesy of NASA, ESA, and STScI except:

 

·       Image of reflection nebula NGC 1788 courtesy of T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), H. Schweiker (WIYN and NOAO/AURA/NSF) & S. Pakzad (NOAO/AURA/NSF)

·       Taurus constellation drawing from Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia by Johannes Hevelius, courtesy of the United States Naval Observatory

·       Orion constellation photo courtesy of Akira Fujii

·       Illustration of circumstellar disk and jets courtesy of ESO/L. Calçada/M. Kornmesser

·       Image of HH 34 jets courtesy of ESO

·       Star formation animation courtesy of Aimei Kutt (Brown University/STScI)

 

 

Written by Vanessa Thomas

Designed by John Godfrey

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Red space dust and yellow stars, with cloudy black areas throughout. 

 

Text, THACKERAY'S GLOBULES. HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE. Dark, secretive clouds of dust and gas float against the backdrop of a brightly lit star-forming nebula. 

 

Similar clouds, when observed by astronomers, are frequently found to hide embryonic stars within their murky shrouds of dust and gas. 

 

These clouds, however, show signs of disruption — likely a side effect of residing near hot, massive stars that have already burst to life. 

 

Such duress may prevent these dark clouds from ever producing stars of their own.