  A novel mechanism of the formation of compact dusty clouds in astrophysical
environments is discussed. It is shown that the balance of collective forces
operating in space dusty plasmas can result in the effect of dust
self-confinement, generating equilibrium spherical clusters. The distribution
of dust and plasma density inside such objects and their stability are
investigated. Spherical dusty clouds can be formed in a broad range of plasma
parameters, suggesting that this process of dust self-organization might be a
generic phenomenon occurring in different astrophysical media. We argue that
compact dusty clouds can represent condensation seeds for a population of
small-scale, cold, gaseous clumps in the diffuse interstellar medium. They
could play an important role in regulating its small-scale structure and its
thermodynamical evolution.
