from UPI.com: Australia say they’ve begun to map the location of the most massive
and mysterious objects in our galaxy, giant gas clouds where stars are
born. 

Using a giant radio telescope in southeastern Australia, the
researchers have identified the galactic clouds of molecular gas — some
up to 100 light-years across — from the carbon monoxide they contain.

“On Earth, carbon monoxide is poisonous — a silent killer. But in
space, it is the second most abundant molecule and the easiest to see,”
project leader Michael Burton of the University of New South Wales said.

The carbon monoxide survey of the Southern Milky Way is being carried out with a 72-foot radio telescope in Coonabarabran.

“One of the largest unresolved mysteries in galactic astronomy is how
these giant, diffuse clouds form in the interstellar medium,” Burton
said. “This process plays a key role in the cosmic cycle of birth and
death of stars.”

The project is part of an international effort also searching for
“dark” galactic gas clouds, unseen clouds that contain very little
carbon monoxide.