  Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs) represent the earliest observed stages of
clustered star formation, characterized by large column densities of cold and
dense molecular material observed in silhouette against a bright background of
mid-IR emission. Up to now, IRDCs were predominantly known toward the inner
Galaxy where background infrared emission levels are high. We present Spitzer
observations with the Infrared Camera Array toward object G111.80+0.58 (G111)
in the outer Galactic Plane, located at a distance of ~3 kpc from us and ~10
kpc from the Galactic center. Earlier results show that G111 is a massive, cold
molecular clump very similar to IRDCs. The mid-IR Spitzer observations
unambiguously detect object G111 in absorption. We have identified for the
first time an IRDC in the outer Galaxy, which confirms the suggestion that
cluster-forming clumps are present throughout the Galactic Plane. However,
against a low mid-IR back ground such as the outer Galaxy it takes some effort
to find them.
