First 3-D map of a gas cloud in space shows it’s flat like a pancake

Its newfound shape could explain why the structure is missing stars

gas cloud

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE  This snakelike gas cloud (center dark area) in the constellation Musca resembles a skinny filament. But it’s actually a flat sheet that extends about 20 light-years into space away from Earth, an analysis finds.

Marco Lorenzi

For the first time, astronomers have charted the 3-D shape of a cloud of interstellar gas.