Scientists Just Found a Giant Glowing Space Cloud—What Is It?

Scientists have discovered a colossal, glow-in-the-dark cloud of hydrogen gas just 300 light-years away from Earth. This gassy mass, named after the Greek goddess of dawn, Eos, was spotted lurking on the edge of the “Local Bubble.” That’s an enormous chunk of space that houses our entire solar system.

Unlike your average gas clouds that we usually find using radio or infrared telescopes, Eos popped up using ultraviolet emissions. Space blacklight, basically. Researchers were able to take a gander at it thanks to South Korean satellite STSAT-1, which is equipped with a far-ultraviolet spectrograph.

“This cloud is literally glowing in the dark,” said Rutgers professor Blakesley Burkhart, who led the research team and whose quote is a shining example of the old Contact line: “They should have sent a poet.”

There’s a Glowing Space Cloud We Just Discovered

Eos is 3,400 times the mass of the Sun and has been cruising through the galaxy since just after the Big Bang, around 13.6 billion years ago. If left alone, it might take six million years to dissipate.

It’s much more than a gas cloud that scientists and Ooh and Ahh at. This cloud could help scientists develop a better understanding of how stars and planets form. While we can spot solar systems mid-formation, we still don’t get how the parts come together. Eos offers a rare front-row seat to this process.

Even cooler is that, while Eos is the closest hydrogen cloud of its kind found using this method, Burkhart’s team might have also identified the farthest hydrogen molecules ever spotted. Ultraviolet tech might be the key that unlocks a whole new world of understanding on how celestial objects of all types are formed.