Every cloud has an… icy lining?⁣ In parts of our Milky Way galaxy, there are giant molecular clouds – vast regions of gas and dust where clumps of matter collapse under gravity, giving birth to stars. Our SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) mission mapped ice found inside those clouds.⁣ One of the things SPHEREx does is map the chemical signatures of various types of interstellar ice. This ice includes molecules like water, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide, which are vital to the chemistry that allows life to develop. In this image, we can see the presence of water ice in bright blue. Researchers believe these ice reservoirs, attached to the surfaces of tiny dust grains, are where most of the universe’s water is formed and stored.⁣ ⁣ Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/IPAC/Hora et al.⁣ ⁣ #NASA #Space #MilkyWay #Stars⁣