Globule

Globules in H-II area IC 2944 , captured with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 of the Hubble Space Telescope .

Globules (lat. Spheres ) are spatially limited parts of molecular clouds in astronomy in which star formation takes place.

Globules appear as dark spots against the background of an emission nebula or against the background of stars. They were proposed by Bart Bok in 1947 as an early stage of star formation and were occasionally named Bok globules after him . Then protostars inside a globule continue to condense until they are hot enough for nuclear fusion . This assumption is supported by high-resolution observations of the known star formation regions of our galaxy (such as the Orion or Eagle Nebula ), e.g. B. with the Hubble Space Telescope , hardened.

See also

• Globulets

Web links

Commons : Bok Globules  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

• Press Release ESO to study a globule (English)
• Press Release NASA to Thackeray's globules, incl. "Related link" to a Science article (english)