Astronomers Unveil Eos, a Massive Hidden Molecular Cloud Near Earth

'It's huge, and it's been hidden for this whole time': Gigantic, glow-in-the-dark cloud near Earth surprises astronomers

The discovery of Eos, the closest known molecular cloud to Earth and one of the largest structures in the night sky, hints at the presence of many previously unseen clouds throughout the galaxy.

An international team of scientists, led by an astrophysicist from Rutgers-New Brunswick University, has discovered a cloud with stellar formation potential. This cloud is one of the largest individual structures in the sky and one of the closest to the Sun and Earth ever detected. The huge hydrogen ball, invisible to scientists for a long time, was revealed by looking for its main component: molecular hydrogen.

This newly discovered cloud is 3,400 times the mass of the Sun—and we almost missed it

4.5 billion years ago the Sun was formed in a swirling cloud of dust and gas called the Solar Nebula. In a paper published by Nature Astronomy journal on April 28th, a team of internationally collaborating scientists proved that another giant molecular cloud hangs only 300 light-years away—making it the closest cloud to Earth. The cloud, named Eos after the Greek goddess of dawn, is so massive that its width would measure about 40 moons side-by-…

Astronomers Discover a Giant, Glowing Molecular Cloud Hidden in Earth's Cosmic Neighborhood

The cloud, named Eos after the Greek goddess of dawn, had eluded researchers because it contains very little carbon monoxide

Mysterious Glowing Structure Discovered Near Solar System

An enormous glowing cloud that contains approximately 3,400 solar masses worth of gas has been discovered near the solar system

And a molecular cloud that will evaporate in 6 million years (ANSA)