心宿二附近的恒星、尘埃和气体

2022年1月26日

Stars, Dust, and Gas Near Antares
Image Credit & Copyright: Mario Cogo (Galax Lux)

Explanation: Why is the sky near Antares and Rho Ophiuchi so dusty yet colorful? The colors result from a mixture of objects and processes. Fine dust — illuminated from the front by starlight — produces blue reflection nebulae. Gaseous clouds whose atoms are excited by ultraviolet starlight produce reddish emission nebulae. Backlit dust clouds block starlight and so appear dark. Antares, a red supergiant and one of the brighter stars in the night sky, lights up the yellow-red clouds on the lower right of the featured image. The Rho Ophiuchi star system lies at the center of the blue reflection nebula on the top left. The distant globular cluster of stars M4 is visible above and to the right of Antares. These star clouds are even more colorful than humans can see, emitting light across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Tomorrow’s picture: open space

心宿二附近的恒星、尘埃和气体
影像提供与版权: Mario Cogo (Galax Lux)

说明: 为何心宿二和心宿增四附近的天空满是尘埃，但色彩却如此缤纷？这些色彩，是天体和物理过程交错下的产物。首先是尘埃微粒受到前方的星光照耀，造就了泛蓝的反射星云。气体云里的原子如果受到紫外光的激发，会形成泛红的发射星云。遮掩了后方星光的尘埃云，成为剪影状的暗星云。而红超巨星心宿二、地球夜空的亮星之一、照亮了这幅主题影像右下角的红黄色星云。此外，位在影像左上角的泛蓝反射星云中心者，为心宿增四恒星系统。在心宿二的右上方，还可见到遥远的球状星团M4。其实，这些星云会发出全电磁波段的辐射，其色彩远多于人类肉眼所能见。

明日的图片: open space