Interstellar clouds
Cosmic clouds, also called interstellar clouds, are massive accumulations of gas, dust, and plasma floating between stars in galaxies. These clouds come from material shed by aging red giants and form regions denser than the surrounding space. Cosmic clouds matter greatly to astronomy because they are stellar nurseries where new stars and planets are born from collapsing gas and dust. They also serve as laboratories for studying chemistry in space, revealing unexpected organic molecules like formaldehyde and methanol that form under conditions scientists didn't think possible. By analyzing the light these clouds emit across the electromagnetic spectrum, astronomers learn about the composition and evolution of galaxies throughout the universe.
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org: “An interstellar cloud is an accumulation of gas, plasma, and cosmic dust in galaxies.”
- en.wikipedia.org: “An interstellar cloud is formed by the gas and dust particles from a red giant in its later life.”
- en.wikipedia.org: “organic molecules were observed in the spectra that scientists would not have expected to find under these conditions, such as formaldehyde, methanol, and vinyl alcohol.”