Westerhout 40
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Westerhout 40 or W40 is a star-forming region in the Milky Way located in the constellation Serpens. In this region, interstellar gas forming a diffuse nebula surrounds a cluster of several hundred ne
W40 as seen in the infrared by the Spitzer Space Telescope.
View of the core of the molecular cloud as seen by Herschel/SPIRE at 500 μm. Overlaid (white circles) are young stars detected by the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Spitzer Space Telescope mosaic image of W40.
A close-up of an IRDC in the Spitzer image.
Molecular cloud
Videos
A molecular cloud—sometimes called a stellar nursery if star formation is occurring within—is a type of interstellar cloud of which the density and size permit absorption nebulae, the formation of mol
Astronomer Henk van de Hulst first theorized hydrogen could be traceable in interstellar space using radio signals.
Plaque commemorating the discovery of 21-cm radiation from the Milky Way
Left to right: Jan Oort, Hendrik C. van de Hulst, Pieter Oosterhoff. Jan Oort had a pivotal role in the research that lead to the discovery of molecular clouds.
Penzias and Wilson with the Holmdel horn antenna used to detect microwave emissions from the Big Bang