'Coreshine' sheds light on the birth of stars

Science is literally in the dark when it comes to the birth of stars, which occurs deep inside clouds of gas and dust. These clouds are completely opaque to ordinary light. Now, a group of astronomers has discovered a new astronomical phenomenon that appears to be common in such clouds, and promises a new window onto the earliest phases of star formation. The phenomenon - infra red light that is scattered by unexpectedly large grains of dust, which the astronomers have termed 'coreshine' - probes the dense cores where stars are born...

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