The Perseus Molecular Cloud is a chain of cold gas and dust in Perseus, mapped in radio, that is forming clusters of young stars at both of its ends.
At a glance
| type | nebula |
|---|---|
| distance from the Sun | 995 light-years (305 pc) |
| its light left it | 995 years ago |
| size in the piece | about 110 light-years acrossmodel |
Read off the piece’s own catalogue, the same values it draws with. Model marks a property of the piece’s galaxy model rather than a measurement.
About Perseus Molecular Cloud
Radio telescopes trace the cloud through the emission of carbon monoxide and other molecules, revealing a long chain of gas and dark cores. Young clusters sit at either end, NGC 1333 and IC 348, one still buried in its natal gas and lit as a reflection nebula, the other older and already emerging.
Protostars, jets and outflows fill its infrared and millimetre images, so the cloud is one of the main places to watch stars forming in groups close to the Sun. The piece also lists the Perseus Cloud as a separate entry for the same complex.
What you see in the piece
In visible light it is a faint darkening of the stars of Perseus; switch to infrared to see the dust and the young clusters within it.
Measured or modelled
Maps of dust in three dimensions suggest the Perseus and Taurus clouds lie on the rim of a large shell blown by past supernovae; this is an interpretation. The extent shown in the piece is modelled.
Questions
How far away is the Perseus Molecular Cloud?
The Perseus Molecular Cloud is about 995 light-years (305 pc) from the Sun.
How is the Perseus Molecular Cloud observed?
Mostly in radio and infrared: radio traces its molecular gas, infrared reveals the dust and the young stars hidden inside.