This eery plot of ground of blackness in the middle of a busy ace bunch may face like a rather misshapen black hole , but it ’s actually something even stranger . It ’s also quite possibly the solitary , darkest , coldest berth in the entire macrocosm .
This is Barnard 68 , and it ’s what ’s known as a sullen molecular cloud . Basically , the dust and gas that makes up Barnard 68 is so tightly packed together that it blocks out all the spark behind it . The result might count like some alien civilisation tore aside the cloth of the universe and opening up a gateway to the howling void , but thankfully – or unfortunately , I hazard , depending on how you sense about the ululate emptiness – it ’s just gasolene . Make that a tidy sum of flatulency .
Here ’s some extra info on this particular spot of darkness :

The eerily dark environment help oneself make the interiors of molecular clouds some of the coldest and most stranded station in the universe . One of the most notable of these dark absorption nebula is a cloud toward the constellation Ophiuchus make love as Barnard 68 , fancy above . That no stars are visible in the heart indicates that Barnard 68 is relatively nearby , with measurements invest it about 500 clean - years out and half a abstemious - yr across . It is not known exactly how molecular clouds like Barnard 68 form , but it is known that these swarm are themselves probable places for new maven to form . In fact , Barnard 68 itself has been find likely to collapse and form a fresh virtuoso system .
It should be pointed out that this molecular swarm only see sales talk dark in the optical wavelengths that are familiar to us . speculation into different wavelength , such as infrared , and you may see the stars behind Barnard 68 just fine , as you may seehere .
ViaNASA . Photo of Mesopotamian sway relief by dyanmosquito onFlickr .

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