Invisible hydrogen cloud found 300 light-years away

A team of astronomers has discovered a previously unseen massive gas cloud located 300 light-years from the Solar System. The cloud is described as "invisible" because it does not emit its own light.

Using data collected by South Korea's STSat-1 satellite, astronomers identified a huge, crescent-shaped cloud made of molecular hydrogen.

Blakesley Burkhart, an astrophysicist from Rutgers University in the U.S., said, "This is the first molecular cloud discovered by directly searching for molecular hydrogen through far-ultraviolet radiation." She added, "This cloud literally shines in the dark."

The research was published in the journal Nature Astronomy.