Bernard 30, Dark cloud

Barnard 30 is a dark cloud, located at a distance of around 1,300 light years in the constellation of Orion.  The cloud is part of the Lambda Orionis ring, and together with Barnard 35 and the Lambda Orionis cluster, is a region with a young stellar population. The age of the stellar population is around 2-3 million years, therefore they are younger than those at the centre of Lambda Orionis ring.

Responsible for the morphology of the nebula is most likely Meisa, or λ Orionis (abbreviated Lambda Ori and λ Ori). This is a double star that consists of an O8 III-type star with a mass around 28 solar masses and temperature of around 35,000 Kelvin. Its companion is a B0.5 V-type star, with a mass of 10 solar masses and temperature around 25,400 Kelvin. The immense emission from this star, together with the effect of its stellar wind, trigger star formation.

Furthermore, within the cloud apart from the young star, there are numerous T Tauri stars (i.e., young stellar objects), Herbig-Haro objects, and many brown dwarfs.

Image: Composite infrared image of Barnard 30 taken with the Spitzer Space Telescope. The image was created using filters that are centred at 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 microns (orange), and 8.0 microns (red). The blue color is due to stars, green is due to hot gas and dust, while orange and red comes mostly from dust that is heated by the emission of stars.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ Laboratorio de Astrofísica Espacial y Física Fundamental