Figure 18-22: R I V U X G
Mapping Molecular Clouds A radio telescope was tuned to a wavelength of 2.6 mm to detect emissions from carbon monoxide (CO) molecules in the constellations Orion and Monoceros. The result was this false-color map, which shows a 35° × 40° section of the sky. The Orion and Horsehead star-forming nebulae are located at sites of intense CO emission (shown in red and yellow), indicating the presence of a particularly dense molecular cloud at these sites of star formation. The molecular cloud is much thinner at the positions of the Cone and Rosette nebulae, where star formation is less intense.
Mapping Molecular Clouds A radio telescope was tuned to a wavelength of 2.6 mm to detect emissions from carbon monoxide (CO) molecules in the constellations Orion and Monoceros. The result was this false-color map, which shows a 35° × 40° section of the sky. The Orion and Horsehead star-forming nebulae are located at sites of intense CO emission (shown in red and yellow), indicating the presence of a particularly dense molecular cloud at these sites of star formation. The molecular cloud is much thinner at the positions of the Cone and Rosette nebulae, where star formation is less intense.
(Courtesy of R. Maddalena, M. Morris, J. Moscowitz, and P. Thaddeus)