Context :

Aims : We investigate the star formation occurring in a region well below the Galactic plane towards the optical reflection nebula ESO 368-8 ( IRAS 07383 - 3325 ) .
We confirm the presence of a small young stellar cluster ( or aggregate of tens of YSOs ) identified earlier , embedded in a molecular cloud located near the lower “ edge ” of the Galactic disc , and characterise the young stellar population .
We report the discovery of a near-infrared nebula , and present a CO map revealing a new dense , dynamic cloud core .

Methods : We used near-infrared JHK _ { S } images obtained with VLT/ISAAC , millimetre CO spectra obtained with the SEST telescope , and optical V -band images from the YALO telescope .

Results : This star formation region displays an optical reflection nebula ( ESO 368-8 ) and a near-infrared nebula located about 46 ^ { \prime \prime } ( 1.1 pc ) from each other .
The two nebulae are likely to be coeval and to represent two manifestations of the same single star formation episode with about 1 Myr age .
The near-IR nebula reveals an embedded , optically and near-IR invisible source whose light scatters off a cavity carved by previous stellar jets or molecular outflows and into our line-of-sight .
The molecular cloud is fully covered by our CO ( J =1 - 0 ) maps and , traced by this line , extends over a region of \sim 7.8 \times 7.8 pc ^ { 2 } , exhibiting an angular size \sim 5.4 ^ { \prime } \times 5.4 ^ { \prime } and shape ( close to circular ) similar to spherical ( or slightly cometary ) globules .
Towards the direction of the near-IR nebula , the molecular cloud contains a dense core where the molecular gas exhibits large line widths indicative of a very dynamical state , with stirred gas and supersonic motions .
Our estimates of the mass of the molecular gas in this region range from 600 to 1600 M _ { \odot } .
The extinction A _ { V } towards the positions of the optical reflection nebula and of the near-IR nebula was found to be A _ { V } \simeq 3 - 4 mag and A _ { V } \simeq 12 - 15 mag , respectively .

Conclusions :