Abstract
A preliminary survey of four dark globules in the Southern Coalsack, an area of conspicuous obscuration in the southern sky, has revealed seven IR sources, which are most probably heavily obscured background stars. We report here that the wavelength dependence of extinction is not significantly different from that in the general interstellar medium. Spectroscopy of these stars, and of still more heavily obscured stars that should be revealed by a deeper survey, would permit detailed analysis of ‘proto-protostellar’ material. Although these are probably background stars, the numbers found in our small sample at least suggest association with the globules themselves; there is growing evidence for star formation within or associated with dense dark globules.
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Smyth, M., Sim, M. IR sources in the Southern Coalsack. Nature 283, 457–459 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/283457a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/283457a0
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