This eerie patch of blackness in the middle of a busy star cluster may look like a rather misshapen black hole, but it’s actually something even stranger. It’s also quite possibly the loneliest, ...

Astronomers have predicted that the dark nebula Barnard 68 will become a shining star in 200,000 years' time. According to the scientists, this nebula is already close to colliding with another, ...

Contrary to what your first instinct might tell you upon viewing this image, this is not a black hole. Not in the conventional sense anyway. It isn’t sucking in matter that comes too close to it.

The contenders are lined up, each aspiring to greatness. Suddenly, a bullet ploughs into one of these shadowy figures, which then collapses. Success! A star is born. Star-making proceeds quite ...

This is the dark nebula Barnard 68. Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any ...

Stars are born in hiding when dense regions within clouds of gas and dust collapse under their own gravity. These clouds not only provide the raw material for star formation, but they also absorb most ...

Stars and planets form within dark molecular clouds, but little is understood about the internal structure of these clouds, and consequently about the initial conditions that give rise to star and ...

The astrophysicist João Alves, director of the Calar Alto Observatory in Almeria, and his colleague Andreas Bürkert, from the German observatory in the University of Munich, believe that "the ...

The astrophysicist Joao Alves, director of the Calar Alto Observatory in Almeria, and his colleague Andreas Buerkert, from the German observatory in the University of Munich, believe that “the ...