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Nature 409, 140-141 (11 January 2001) | doi:10.1038/35051674

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Astronomy: The dark cradles of stars

Bo Reipurth

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Stars are born in dark clouds of molecular gas, which remain shrouded in mystery. Astronomers have found a new way to peer inside these star factories.

One of the success stories of twentieth-century astronomy was the development of a physical understanding of the nature, evolution and death of stars — replacing thousands of years of mystical speculation with firm knowledge. But one piece of the puzzle is still missing: how stars are born.