A small, dense, dark cloud of gas and dust typically 0.1-1 light-year across, representing the earliest stage of star formation where gravitational collapse is beginning. These isolated clouds appear as dark spots against the stellar background and often contain protostars in their cores.
Named after Dutch-American astronomer Bart Bok who first studied these objects systematically in the 1940s. From his surname combined with Latin 'globulus' (small sphere), reflecting their compact, roughly spherical appearance in photographs.
Bok globules are like cosmic eggs about to hatch! These tiny dark clouds may look empty, but they're actually stellar wombs where individual stars or small star systems are being born - some are so dense that a volume the size of Earth would contain as much mass as our entire Solar System.
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