银河中心的恒星、云气及磁场

2021年06月02日

The Galactic Center in Stars, Gas, and Magnetism
Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/UMass/Q.D. Wang; Radio: NRF/SARAO/MeerKAT

Explanation: What’s going on near the center of our galaxy? To help find out, a newly detailed panorama has been composed that explores regions just above and below the galactic plane in radio and X-ray light. X-ray light taken by the orbiting Chandra Observatory is shown in orange (hot), green (hotter), and purple (hottest) and superposed with a highly detailed image in radio waves, shown in gray, acquired by the MeerKAT array. Interactions are numerous and complex. Galactic beasts such as expanding supernova remnants, hot winds from newly formed stars, unusually strong and colliding magnetic fields, and a central supermassive black hole are all battling in a space only 1000 light years across. Thin bright stripes appear to result from twisting and newly connecting magnetic fields in colliding regions, creating an energetic type of inner galactic space weather with similarities to that created by our Sun. Continued observations and study hold promise to not only shed more light on the history and evolution of our own galaxy — but all galaxies.

Tomorrow’s picture: open space

银河中心的恒星、云气及磁场
影像提供: X-ray: NASA/CXC/UMass/Q.D. Wang; Radio: NRF/SARAO/MeerKAT

说明: 银河中心附近发生什么事？为找出答案提供助力，天文学家特地建构了一幅整合X射线和电波影像数据的细致新全景图，来探索紧邻银河盘面上方及下方的区域。其中，来自轨道钱德拉天文台的X射线影像，分别以橙（热）、绿（更热）、及紫（最热）来呈现，上头则叠合了来自狐獴阵列的细致电波影像数据（灰）。影像显示交互作用无所不在而且相当复杂。在宽只有1,000光年的空间内，诸如扩张超新星遗迹、新形成恒星发出的炽热恒星风、异常强且互撞的磁场、和超大质量的银河中心黑洞 ，这些银河天体彼此不停争战。其中纤薄的亮纹，看以来自互撞区扭曲、刚连结的磁场，而所产生的内星系空间天气，则酷似太阳所造成的太空天气。持续的观测和探索，可能对我们银河系及所有星系的历史和演化能有较深入的了解。

明日的图片: open space