infrared dark cloud
File:Carina Nebula in infrared light (captured by the Hubble Space Telescope).jpg
An infrared dark cloud (IRDC) is a cold, dense region of a giant molecular cloud. They can be seen in silhouette against the bright diffuse mid-infrared emission from the galactic plane.{{Cite web | url=http://web.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/carey/dark/dark.html |title = Infrared Dark Clouds}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.astro.ufl.edu/~jt/irext/ms.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2010-12-04 |archive-date=2017-08-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809081926/http://astro.ufl.edu/~jt/irext/ms.pdf |url-status=dead }}
Discovery
Infrared dark clouds have only been recently discovered in 1996 using the ISO{{cite web |url=http://www.mpia-hd.mpg.de/homes/stein/EPoS/Onlinematerial/fuller_irdcs.pdf.gz |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2010-12-04 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101034320/http://www.mpia-hd.mpg.de/homes/stein/EPoS/Onlinematerial/fuller_irdcs.pdf.gz |archivedate=2011-01-01 }} and therefore are in need of further research.{{cite journal | bibcode = 2010A&A...515A..51F | title=Searching for dark clouds in the outer galactic plane. I. A statistical approach for identifying extended red(dened) regions in 2MASS | journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics | volume=515 | page=51 | year=2010 | doi=10.1051/0004-6361/200913000 | arxiv=1005.4955| last1=Frieswijk | first1=W. W. F. | last2=Shipman | first2=R. F. | s2cid=119207620 }} The Spitzer Space telescope, created by NASA to detect infrared radiation,{{Cite web |title=Spitzer Space Telescope |url=https://science.nasa.gov/mission/spitzer/ |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=science.nasa.gov |language=en-US}} assisted in the location and identification of infrared dark clouds. The highly sensitive telescope was used to analyze the Milky Way and create numerous astronomical surveys at wavelengths that allowed for the detailed analysis of IRDCs. Through the use of convolutional neural networks,{{Cite journal |last=Pari |first=Jyothish |last2=Hora |first2=Joseph L. |date=2020-05-01 |title=A Semi-Automated Computational Approach for Infrared Dark Cloud Localization: A Catalog of Infrared Dark Clouds |url=http://arxiv.org/abs/2003.01122 |journal=Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific |volume=132 |issue=1011 |pages=054301 |doi=10.1088/1538-3873/ab7b39 |issn=0004-6280|arxiv=2003.01122 }} an IRDC catalog consisting of 18,845 items was created by two astronomers named Jyothish Pari and Joe Hora, who created a computer algorithm which could efficiently scan the images created by the Spitzer telescope’s IRAC camera to find infrared dark clouds.{{Cite web |title=A New Catalog of Infrared Dark Clouds |url=https://pweb.cfa.harvard.edu/news/new-catalog-infrared-dark-clouds |access-date=13 April 2024 |website=Center for Astrophysics Harvard and Smithsonian}}
Importance
Astronomers believe that they represent the earliest stage in the formation of high-mass stars
{{Cite journal | doi=10.1088/0004-637X/715/1/310| title=The Early Stages of Star Formation in Infrared Dark Clouds: Characterizing the Core Dust Properties| journal=The Astrophysical Journal| volume=715| issue=1| pages=310–322| year=2010| last1=Rathborne| first1=J. M.| last2=Jackson| first2=J. M.| last3=Chambers| first3=E. T.| last4=Stojimirovic| first4=I.| last5=Simon| first5=R.| last6=Shipman| first6=R.| last7=Frieswijk| first7=W.| bibcode=2010ApJ...715..310R| arxiv=1003.3193| s2cid=119276880}} and are therefore of great importance for understanding the star formation process as a whole.{{Cite journal | doi=10.1088/0004-637X/715/1/310| title=The Early Stages of Star Formation in Infrared Dark Clouds: Characterizing the Core Dust Properties| journal=The Astrophysical Journal| volume=715| issue=1| pages=310–322| year=2010| last1=Rathborne| first1=J. M.| last2=Jackson| first2=J. M.| last3=Chambers| first3=E. T.| last4=Stojimirovic| first4=I.| last5=Simon| first5=R.| last6=Shipman| first6=R.| last7=Frieswijk| first7=W.| bibcode=2010ApJ...715..310R| arxiv=1003.3193| s2cid=119276880}}