Interstellar cloud

<p>An interstellar cloud is an accumulation of <a href="/facts/Gas/hVVAoodV">gas</a>, <a href="/facts/Plasma_(physics)/1d3btMVU">plasma</a>, and <a href="/facts/Cosmic_dust/Uy6hlL29">cosmic dust</a> in <a href="/facts/Galaxies/zCyUvEf7">galaxies</a>. Put differently, an interstellar cloud is a denser-than-average region of the <a href="/facts/Interstellar_medium/mokU0WEz">interstellar medium</a>, the <a href="/facts/Matter/osyc04UN">matter</a> and radiation that exists in the <a href="/facts/Interstellar_space/R3LRKyFs">space</a> between the <a href="/facts/Star_system/1vX99BMV">star systems</a> in a galaxy. Depending on the <a href="/facts/Density/92p6hh9I">density</a>, <a href="/facts/Size/brTWIYNF">size</a>, and <a href="/facts/Temperature/QyGe4gmj">temperature</a> of a given cloud, its <a href="/facts/Hydrogen/BoYHjl0J">hydrogen</a> can be neutral, making an <a href="/facts/H_I_region/K36Y6k0V">H I region</a>; ionized, or plasma making it an <a href="/facts/H_II_region/oDXMyTE1">H II region</a>; or molecular, which are referred to simply as <a href="/facts/Molecular_cloud/5jEwCJxs">molecular clouds</a>, or sometime dense clouds. Neutral and <a href="/facts/Ionization/W13Ceavd">ionized</a> clouds are sometimes also called <i>diffuse clouds</i>. An interstellar cloud is formed by the gas and dust particles from a <a href="/facts/Red_giant/lla6Bsvy">red giant</a> in its later life.
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Interstellar cloud open-in-new

Interstellar cloud