鹿豹座星系NGC 2403

2024年6月3日

NGC 2403 in Camelopardalis
Image Credit & Copyright: (Team F.A.C.T.) Lilian Lbt – Cyrille Malo – Maxime Martin – Clément Daniel – Paul Grasset – Louis Leroux-Géré

Explanation: Magnificent island universe NGC 2403 stands within the boundaries of the long-necked constellation Camelopardalis. Some 10 million light-years distant and about 50,000 light-years across, the spiral galaxy also seems to have more than its fair share of giant star forming HII regions, marked by the telltale reddish glow of atomic hydrogen gas. The giant HII regions are energized by clusters of hot, massive stars that explode as bright supernovae at the end of their short and furious lives. A member of the M81 group of galaxies, NGC 2403 closely resembles a galaxy in our own local galaxy group with an abundance of star forming regions, M33, the Triangulum Galaxy. Spiky in appearance, bright stars in this portrait of NGC 2403 are in the foreground, within our own Milky Way. Also in the foreground of the deep, wide-field, telescopic image are the Milky Way’s dim and dusty interstellar clouds also known as galactic cirrus or integrated flux nebulae. But faint features that seem to extend from NGC 2403 itself are likely tidal stellar streams drawn out by gravitational interactions with neighboring galaxies.

Tomorrow’s picture: tail tales

鹿豹座星系NGC 2403
影像提供与版权: (Team F.A.C.T.) Lilian Lbt – Cyrille Malo – Maxime Martin – Clément Daniel – Paul Grasset – Louis Leroux-Géré

说明: 壮丽的宇宙岛NGC 2403位于有长长颈子的鹿豹座之内。宽5万光年左右、距离约1千万光年远的这个螺旋星系，看似拥有特别多正在形成恒星、其标记为会发出原子氢特征泛红辉光的庞大HII区。这些庞大的HII区的能量源，则是群集的炽热大质量恒星；这些恒星在过完璀璨短暂的一生之后，会以明亮超新星爆炸的形式谢幕。NGC 2403是M81星系团的成员，它形似本星系群的三角大星系M33，而二者皆以拥有大量的恒星诞生区著称。在这幅星系NGC 2403的彩色影像里，带芒的亮星是位于我们银河系内的前景恒星。在这幅宽视野的望远镜深空影像之前景里，还可见到名为银河卷云或共照耀星云的昏暗银河系星际尘埃云。除此之外，看似从NGC 2403伸出的昏暗结构，可能是它与邻近星系重力互扰所产生的潮汐恒星流。

明日的图片: tail tales