The Gould Belt Survey is an

astronomical Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies ...

research project led by the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, with the participation of several other institutions. The astronomers use observations and data captured by the

Spitzer Space Telescope The Spitzer Space Telescope, formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), was an infrared space telescope launched in 2003. Operations ended on 30 January 2020. Spitzer was the third space telescope dedicated to infrared astronomy, f ...

and other telescopes to create a complete picture of the star forming regions within an approximately 1600

light-year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...

radius centered on the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...

. These regions are partly or completely clouded by

interstellar dust Cosmic dust, also called extraterrestrial dust, star dust or space dust, is dust which exists in outer space, or has fallen on Earth. Most cosmic dust particles measure between a few molecules and 0.1 mm (100 micrometers). Larger particles are c ...

and therefore cannot be observed by telescopes using visible light, like the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versa ...

. The

Gould Belt The Gould Belt is a local, partial ring of stars in the Milky Way, about 3,000 light-years long, tilted away from the galactic plane by about 16–20 degrees. It contains many O- and B-type stars, amounting to the nearest star-forming regio ...

survey team uses a variety of telescopes and observatories to study multiple aspects of star formation. The Spitzer Space Telescope provides imagery and observations made in the

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...

, while for example the

James Clerk Maxwell Telescope The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) is a submillimetre-wavelength radio telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii, US. The telescope is near the summit of Mauna Kea at . Its primary mirror is 15 metres (16.4 yards) across: it is the larg ...

provides images from the submillimeter wavelength region of the spectrum. The

Herschel Space Observatory The Herschel Space Observatory was a space observatory built and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). It was active from 2009 to 2013, and was the largest infrared telescope ever launched until the launch of the James Webb Space Telesc ...

telescope provided observation data between the far infrared and the sub-millimeter wavelengths, effectively covering wavelengths between the observational capabilities of the Spitzer and the Maxwell telescopes.

Observation results

Regions surveyed include clouds in Scorpius, Lupus, Musca,

Chamaeleon Chamaeleon () is a small constellation in the deep southern sky. It is named after the chameleon, a kind of lizard. It was first defined in the 16th century. History Chamaeleon was one of twelve constellations created by Petrus Plancius fro ...

, the Serpens-Aquila Rift and W40, Cepheus, and IC 5146. The first observations by the

were completed between September 21–27, 2006. The first region that has been surveyed is IC5146 (the Cocoon Nebula in Cygnus). The first details of the research were presented at a meeting of the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

in Seattle. Based on these observations, the team of astronomers led by Robert Gutermuth, of the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian reported the discovery of Serpens South, a cluster of 50 young stars in the

Serpens Serpens ( grc, , , the Serpent) is a constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. One of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, it remains one of the 88 modern constellations designated by the International ...

constellation. The research team also released
poster
which covers the details of the research and the results presented at the AAS meeting.

Related projects

The data from this project will be used in combination with observations from the

, and previous Spitzer observations from the
Cores to Disks
Legacy program and from variou
Guaranteed Time
an
General Observer
programs that studied star-forming regions within Gould's Belt.

References

External links

{{Portal bar, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System Astronomical surveys Gould Belt Harvard University