Infrared Dark Clouds

Infrared dark clouds are cold, dense molecular clouds cores seen in silhouette against the bright diffuse mid-infrared emission of the Galactic plane.

A particular striking example is G11.11-0.11 seen below in extinction at 8 microns and 2MASS Ks band and in emission at 850 microns.

8 micron image of G11.11-0.11 from MSX. It is seen in extinction against the bright diffuse mid-infrared emission of the Galactic plane.

K_s image of G11.11-0.11 from 2MASS. It is seen in extinction against the numerous stars in the Galactic plane

850 micron image of G11.11-0.11 from SCUBA at the JCMT. The bulk of the IRDC can be seen as a fainter envelope of emission surrounding some brighter regions. The bright region in the center of the image contains a suspected massive class 0 protostar.

Last Updated : March 20, 2002

	8 micron image of G11.11-0.11 from MSX. It is seen in extinction against the bright diffuse mid-infrared emission of the Galactic plane.
	K_s image of G11.11-0.11 from 2MASS. It is seen in extinction against the numerous stars in the Galactic plane
	850 micron image of G11.11-0.11 from SCUBA at the JCMT. The bulk of the IRDC can be seen as a fainter envelope of emission surrounding some brighter regions. The bright region in the center of the image contains a suspected massive class 0 protostar.