13.6 billion years stormy glow-in-the-dark massive cloud found lurking neat Earth: Can it impact life on Earth

Time of India

06-05-2025

The universe contains secrets, many of which have remained undetected despite decades of research and space missions through powerful telescopes. Astronomy constantly reminds us that what we know is only a fraction of what lies out there. May it be rogue planets drifting alone in the dark or entire galaxies concealed behind curtains of cosmic dust, it all seems like a mysterious sojourn.
Occasionally, discoveries come not from the obvious but from what hides in plain sight. Such things, when something massive and cosmically ancient is suddenly found just next door, enhance our understanding of the cosmos even more.
Astronomers have now come across another surprising object, which is a massive molecular cloud, and that too in Earth's cosmic backyard, which has somehow remained invisible until now. Named Eos, this newly discovered structure has opened a fresh window into
star and planet formation
, right at the edge of our local space environment.
What have the scientists discovered?
Scientists have identified a colossal molecular cloud which is located just 300 light-years away from Earth. Despite being so close, this massive structure went unnoticed until now due to its unusually low hydrogen content, which made it nearly invisible using traditional observation techniques.
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The discovery which was published on April 28, 2025, in Nature Astronomy, was possible through data collected from the Korean satellite STSAT-1. It is equipped with a
far-ultraviolet spectrograph
(FIMS-SPEAR), and the satellite was used to search for ultraviolet emissions from molecular hydrogen, a component that usually glows under ultraviolet light. And it worked.
A image provided by Thomas Müller (HdA/MPIA) and Thavisha Dharmawardena (NYU) shows, a newly discovered potentially star-forming cloud that is one of the largest structures in the sky. The cloud, named Eos, is chock-full of molecular hydrogen and possibly rife with star-forming potential in the future. (Thomas Müller (HdA/MPIA) and Thavisha Dharmawardena (NYU) via The New York Times) -- NO SALES; FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY WITH NYT STORY SCI COSMIC CLOUD BY KATRINA MILLER FOR MAY 5, 2025. ALL OTHER USE PROHIBITED. --
'This is the first-ever molecular cloud discovered by looking for far-ultraviolet emission of molecular hydrogen directly,' said lead author Blakesley Burkhart from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences in New Jersey. 'The data showed glowing hydrogen molecules detected via fluorescence in the far ultraviolet.'
According to Burkhart, "This cloud is literally glowing in the dark. It was kind of like just waiting to be explored. This opens up new possibilities for studying the molecular universe", as reported by Nature Astronomy, 2025.
What is special about this cloud?
What makes Eos especially interesting isn't just its proximity, but its huge size and structure. Weighing in at 3,400 times the mass of the Sun, Eos is one of the largest single formations ever seen in space. If visible to the naked eye, it would stretch across the sky like 40 full moons lined up side by side. Shaped like a crescent, it sits delicately at the boundary of a massive cavity surrounding our solar system, known as the Local Bubble.
What is a molecular cloud?
Molecular clouds like Eos are stellar nurseries. They consist mostly of hydrogen gas and cosmic dust, which are the raw ingredients for star and planet formation. These clouds act as cradles of creation in the universe. But until now, the processes within them, especially at the early stages, have remained largely a mystery.
"When we look through our telescopes, we catch whole solar systems in the act of forming, but we don't know in detail how that happens," Burkhart explained. "Our discovery of Eos is exciting because we can now directly measure how molecular clouds are forming and dissociating, and how a galaxy begins to transform interstellar gas and dust into stars and planets."
Eos gives a rare chance to observe these foundational cosmic processes in real-time and with clarity. Scientists believe the cloud has been slowly forming on the edge of the Local Bubble, a 1,000-light-year-wide region of hot, low-density gas that our Sun currently resides in. And while Eos is stable now, it won't last forever, and it is expected to dissipate within the next six million years.
Researchers say that the material has traveled through time for 13.6 billion years, dating all the way back to the Big Bang itself. This makes the cloud not only a massive structure but also a cosmic time capsule composed of some of the oldest matter in existence.