  We present an analysis of multi-wavelength observations of the dark globule
DC\,314.8--5.1, using data from the Gaia optical, 2MASS near-infrared, and WISE
mid-infrared surveys, dedicated imaging with the Spitzer Space Telescope, and
X-ray data obtained with the Swift-XRT Telescope (XRT). The main goal was to
identify possible pre-main sequence stars (PMSs) and young stellar objects
(YSOs) associated with the globule. For this, we studied the infrared colors of
all point sources within the boundaries of the cloud. After removing sources
with non-stellar spectra, we investigated the Gaia parallaxes for the YSO
candidates, and found that none are physically related to DC\,314.8--5.1. In
addition, we searched for X-ray emission from pre-main sequence stars with
Swift-XRT, and found no 0.5--10\,keV emission down to a luminosity level
$\lesssim 10^{31}$erg\,s$^{-1}$, typical of a PMS with mass\,$\ge 2 M_\odot$.
Our detailed inspection therefore supports a very young, ``pre-stellar core''
evolutionary stage for the cloud. Based on archival Planck and IRAS data, we
moreover identify the presence of hot dust, with temperatures $\gtrsim 100$\,K,
in addition to the dominant dust component at 14\,K, originating with the
associated reflection nebula.
