History Main / SpaceClouds

* The 2011 film ''{{Thor}}'' features a dazzling journey through the cosmos via the rainbow bridge through a nebula which looks suspiciously like the the Pillars Of Creation, complete with the false coloration featured in the famous Hubble photo.

** In the episode "Year of Hell", a crippled ''Voyager'' hides inside of a nebula so dense that it produces a visible fog ''inside'' the ship's corridors, on account of the ship being too damaged to otherwise keep the stuff out. Captain Janeway even orders the hull breaches sealed to avoid having an "indoor nebula."
** In the opening credits where the Voyager passes though a cloud just a few kilometers thick, yet dense enough to see. Voyager evoked this trope literally every episode.
** During the last 3 seasons, they encounter a "mutara-class" nebula almost every episode.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "Rocks and Shoals", Sisko's ship, which is being chased and has no warp drive, is not only able to find a dense and conveniently close nebula to hide in, but finds a ''ConvenientlyClosePlanet'' inside the nebula.

** Most egregiously in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', where during the last 3 seasons, they encounter a "mutara-class" nebula almost every episode.
* In the ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' episode "Rocks and Shoals", Sisko's ship, which is being chased and has no warp drive, is not only able to find a dense and conveniently close nebula to hide in, but finds a ''ConvenientlyClosePlanet'' inside the nebula.

* In ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', Zaphod claims that the inside of a nebula is the only place you'd see a completely blank viewport. Mind you, this is [[TedBaxter Zaphod]] talking, but the screen actually ''is'' blank until they adjust the view.
** Such perfect cover is [[MythologyGag very, very improbable:]] any random point selected within any random nebula is liable to have stars, if rather occluded stars, visible in some directions. The notion that the nebula has been providing this perfect cover to the stars Solianis and Rahm for five million years is [[MythologyGag even more improbable.]]
** Also in the ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'', the Krikkit people have never seen stars and are entirely unaware of the night sky specifically because their planet lives inside a cloud [[spoiler: of Hactar's debris. In this case, Trillian notes the incredible improbability of the entire situation and deduces that an outside intelligence is behind the whole thing.]]

** Most egregiously in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', where during the last 3 seasons, they encounter a "mutara-class" nebula almost every episode.

* In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Year of Hell", a crippled ''Voyager'' hides inside of a nebula so dense that it produces a visible fog ''inside'' the ship's corridors, on account of the ship being too damaged to otherwise keep the stuff out. Captain Janeway even orders the hull breaches sealed to avoid having an "indoor nebula."
** Don't forget the opening credits where we see the Voyager passing though a cloud just a few kilometers thick, yet dense enough for us to see. Voyager evoked this trope literally every episode.

* Played with in ''MassEffect''; most nebulae are just there as pretty colours on the sector scale of the Galactic Map, and disappear once you zoom in to the star-system level. The Serpent Nebula around the Citadel is a regular pea-souper which obscures the massive station for a dramatic [[TheReveal reveal]] as you fly in - and is therefore noted as being blatantly artificial, and the subject of much speculation as to why someone would go to so much effort to keep it that way.[[spoiler: It's there to cut the Citadel off once the Reapers succeed in shutting down the Mass Relay network.]]

* In ''MasterOfOrion 2'', nebulae greatly reduce the cruising speed of ships passing through them unless the owner has a specific racial trait. They also disable shields that haven't been properly upgraded.

Compare AsteroidThicket. Trope name is a meta-example of SpaceX.

* Nebulae show up in the ''VideoGame/{{X}}-Universe'' games. They're all extremely dense (with a few exceptions), sometimes limiting visibility down to 10 kilometers. In the ''Albion Prelude'' expansion pack for ''Terran Conflict'', the nebulae's visibility obstructing effect is removed, making them atmospheric effects that don't affect visibility.

** Also in the ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'', the Krikkit people have never seen stars and are entirely unaware of the night sky specifically because their planet lives inside a cloud [[spoiler: of Hactar's debris]]

* In ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', Zaphod claims that the inside of a nebula is the only place you'd see a completely blank viewport. Mind you, this is [[TedBaxter Zaphod]] talking, but the screen actually ''is'' blank until they adjust the view.
** Also in the ''LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'', the Krikkit people have never seen stars and are entirely unaware of the night sky specifically because their planet lives inside a cloud [[spoiler: of Hactar's debris]]

* In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Year of Hell", a crippled ''Voyager'' hides inside of a nebula so dense that it produces a visible fog ''inside'' the ship's corridors. Captain Janeway even orders the hull breaches sealed to avoid having an "indoor nebula."

* ''Series/{{Babylon 5}}'' mostly contented itself with pretty false-color nebulas as distant space backgrounds, but they succumbed fully to the trope in the climactic "Into the Fire" episode with a space battle zipping around the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula, one of Hubble's most famous photos.

* In ''Star Wars: Empire at War'', nebula fields disable special abilities when one sends a ship into them. Ion storms (which look almost the same, except with Space Lightning) do exactly the same thing, in addition to disabling a ships' DeflectorShields.

* Played with in ''MassEffect''; most nebulae are just there as pretty colours on the sector scale of the Galactic Map, and disappear once you zoom in to the star-system level. The Serpent Nebula around the Citadel is a regular pea-souper which obscures the massive station for a dramatic [[TheReveal reveal]] as you fly in - and is therefore noted as being blatantly artificial, and the subject of much speculation as to why someone would go to so much effort to keep it that way.[[hottip:*: It's there to cut the Citadel off once the Reapers succeed in shutting down the Mass Relay network.]]

** Each region of Sirius, except for Liberty, is located near a specific type of nebula. Bretonia has the Barrier, a huge bluish-white cloud of ice crystals. Kusari has the Crow Nebula, the aforementioned blue nebula composed of ionized hydrogen, oxygen and helium. Rheinland has the Walker Nebula, which is made up of yellow clouds with mineral rich asteroid fields. The Edge World systems have the Edge Nebula, a mysterious green cloud full of alien organisms, artifacts and [[spoiler: Nomads.]]

This trope has grown in popularity in direct proportion to the number and quality of images returned by the Hubble Space Telescope (and other observatories). It's quickly becoming a case of RealityIsUnrealistic.

A typical interstellar cloud has a molecular density of between 100-1000 per cubic centimeter. To put that into perspective, artificially created vacuums on Earth have an average density of ~40 per cubic centimeter. If you found yourself suspended in the midst of an interstellar cloud, you likely would never know. The reason that interstellar clouds appear opaque and dense is because they are very, very, very, very far away and very, very, very, very large. The Pillars of Creation are four to seven light-years tall; large enough to swallow not only our Solar System but also Alpha Centauri, Sirius and several other nearby systems.

One point that is never taken into consideration is that the various astronomical nebulae that are known by appearance (Crab Nebula, Orion Nebula, Pillars of Creation, ect), are known solely by the appearance that they had at some time in the distant past. The Crab Nebula is estimated, for example to be approximately 6300 light years from Earth. This means that the image of the nebula that we are most familiar with is of its appearance 6300 years ago. Astronomers are somewhat certain that if we were able to instantaneously observe the present form of these nebula, they would look nothing like the pictures we have of them and for all that is known, they may no longer exist. Furthermore, nebulae are made of matter. When you fly through matter with a spaceship, collisions will ensue which might, or depending on the [[FasterThanLightTravel speed of your spaceship]], ''will'' wreak havoc to the hull. Just to give a [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale sense of scale]], a single fog-sized water drop which collides with a spaceship at half the speed of light has the impact force of about 200 kilograms of TNT. SpaceClouds may contain more than one drop of water.

A typical interstellar cloud has a molecular density of between 100-1000 per cubic centimeter. To put that into perspective, artificially created vacuums on Earth have an average density of ~40 per cubic centimeter. If you found yourself suspended in a typical interstellar cloud, you likely would never know. The reason that interstellar clouds appear opaque and dense is because they are very, very, very, very far away and very, very, very, very large. The Pillars of Creation are four to seven light-years tall; large enough to swallow not only our Solar System but also Alpha Centauri, Sirius and several other nearby systems.

A typical interstellar cloud has a molecular density of between 100-1000 per cubic centimeter. To put that into perspective, artificially created vacuums on Earth have an average density of ~40 per cubic centimeter. If you found yourself suspended in a typical interstellar cloud, you likely would never know you were in it. The reason that interstellar clouds appear opaque and dense is because they are very, very, very, very far away and very, very, very, very large. The Pillars of Creation are four to seven light-years tall; large enough to swallow not only our Solar System but also Alpha Centauri, Sirius and several other nearby systems.

* In the ''DeepSpaceNine'' episode "Rocks and Shoals", Sisko's ship, which is being chased and has no warp drive, is not only able to find a dense and conveniently close nebula to hide in, but finds a ''ConvenientlyClosePlanet'' inside the nebula.
* ''BabylonFive'' mostly contented itself with pretty false-color nebulas as distant space backgrounds, but they succumbed fully to the trope in the climactic "Into the Fire" episode with a space battle zipping around the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula, one of Hubble's most famous photos.

One point that is never taken into consideration is that the various astronomical nebulae that are known by appearance (Crab Nebula, Orion Nebula, Pillars of Creation, ect), are known solely by the appearance that they had at some time in the distant past. The Crab Nebula is estimated, for example to be approximately 6300 light years from Earth. This means that the image of the nebula that we are most familiar with is of its appearance 6300 years ago. Astronomers are somewhat certain that if we were able to instantaneously observe the present form of these nebula, they would look nothing like the pictures we have of them and for all that is known, they may no longer exist. Furthermore, nebulae are made of matter. When you fly through matter with a spaceship, collisions will ensue which might, or depending on the [[FasterThanLightTravel speed of your spaceship]], ''will'' wreak havoc to the hull. Just to give a [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale sense of scale]], a single fog-sized water drop which collides with a spaceship at half the speed of light has the impact force of about 200 kilograms of TNT. {{Space Clouds}} may contain more than one drop of water.

* The Mutara Nebula in ''Film/{{Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan}}'' is [[TropeCodifier one of the best-known and most imitated examples]].
** Most egregiously in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', where during the last 3 seasons, they encounter a "mutara-class" nebula almost every episode.

* The 2011 film ''{{Thor}}'' features a dazzling journey through the cosmos via the rainbow bridge through a nebula which looks suspiciously like the the Pillars Of Creation, complete with the false coloration featured in the famous Hubble photo.

* ''BabylonFive'' mostly contented itself with pretty false-color nebulas as distant space backgrounds, but they succumbed fully to the trope in the climactic "Into the Fire" episode with a space battle zipping around the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula, one of Hubble's most famous photos.

* In ''{{Bionicle}}'', when the planet Spherus Magna [[EarthShatteringKaboom shattered]], the smaller planets left behind formed a gigantic Bionicle emblem in space: three planets represented the three large dots, while the "swooshes" around them were formed by, as the [[WordOfGod writer once claimed]], [[SpaceIsCold frozen]] clouds of [[AppliedPhlebotinum Energized Protodermis]] dust, which kept its shape even after 100 000 years.

* ''TachyonTheFringe'' has the Twilight Region, which is a giant nebula that obscures most sensors. In fact, you need special sensors and radiation screens just to survive there. The "fog" is even seeping inside the Deep Fringe Array station. It also drives people insane after prolonged exposure, although the radiation may have something to do with it.

* ''StarWars Rogue Squadron II'' has a stage where you have to fight off fighters in a nebula.
* {{Otherspace}} uses a gigantic red and gold nebula called the Rigor Strand as a sort of close-by frontier area where rogues and adventurers hang out, due to the fact that the nebula's sensor-thwarting abilities make it nearly impossible to map out.

* ''{{Wall-E}}'' Has the ship Axiom parked next to a nebula which initially hides its presence as the Earth-ship approaches.
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* In the ''StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Year of Hell", a crippled ''Voyager'' hides inside of a nebula so dense that it produces a visible fog ''inside'' the ship's corridors. Captain Janeway even orders the hull breaches sealed to avoid having an "indoor nebula."

[[quoteright:320:[[StarTrekVoyager http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NebulaStorm_1297.jpg]]]]

* The Mutara Nebula in ''{{Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan}}'' is [[TropeCodifier one of the best-known and most imitated examples]].
** Most egregiously in StarTrekVoyager, where during the last 3 seasons, they encounter a "mutara-class" nebula almost every episode.

One point that is never taken into consideration is that the various astronomical nebulae that are known by appearance (Crab Nebula, Orion Nebula, Pillars of Creation, ect), are known solely by the appearance that they had at some time in the distant past. The Crab Nebula is estimated, for example to be approximately 6300 light years from Earth. This means that the image of the nebula that we are most familiar with is of its appearance 6300 years ago. Astronomers are somewhat certain that if we were able to instantaneously observe the present form of these nebula, they would look nothing like the pictures we have of them and for all that is known, they may no longer exist. Furthermore, nebulae are made of matter. When you fly through matter with a spaceship, collisions will ensue which might, or depending on the [[FasterThanLightTravel speed of your spaceship]], ''will'' wreak havoc to the hull. Just to give a [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale sense of scale]], a single fog-sized single water drop which collides with a spaceship at half light speed has the impact force of about 200 kilograms of TNT. {{Space Clouds}} may contain more than one.

One point that is never taken into consideration is that the various astronomical nebulae that are known by appearance (Crab Nebula, Orion Nebula, Pillars of Creation, ect), are known solely by the appearance that they had at some time in the distant past. The Crab Nebula is estimated, for example to be approximately 6300 light years from Earth. This means that the image of the nebula that we are most familiar with is of its appearance 6300 years ago. Astronomers are somewhat certain that if we were able to instantaneously observe the present form of these nebula, they would look nothing like the pictures we have of them and for all that is known, they may no longer exist.