红外光波段的银河中心

2021年04月19日

The Galactic Center in Infrared
Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Spitzer Space Telescope, Susan Stolovy (SSC/Caltech) et al.; Reprocessing: Judy Schmidt

Explanation: What does the center of our galaxy look like? In visible light, the Milky Way’s center is hidden by clouds of obscuring dust and gas. But in this stunning vista, the Spitzer Space Telescope’s infrared cameras, penetrate much of the dust revealing the stars of the crowded galactic center region. A mosaic of many smaller snapshots, the detailed, false-color image shows older, cool stars in bluish hues. Red and brown glowing dust clouds are associated with young, hot stars in stellar nurseries. The very center of the Milky Way has recently been found capable of forming newborn stars. The galactic center lies some 26,700 light-years away, toward the constellation Sagittarius. At that distance, this picture spans about 900 light-years.

Tomorrow’s picture: martian ingenuity

红外光波段的银河中心
影像提供: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Spitzer Space Telescope, Susan Stolovy (SSC/Caltech) et al.; 影像处理: Judy Schmidt

说明: 我们银河系的中心长什么样子？在可见光波段，银河系的中心受到不透光尘埃与云气的遮掩，隐不可见。不过在这幅精采的视野里，斯皮策空间望远镜的红外光相机，透视大部分的尘埃，为我们呈现拥挤在银河中心区的繁星。这幅由多张小视野照片拼接而成的细致假色影像，以泛蓝的色调标示较年老的低温恒星。而散发着红及棕色辉光的尘埃云，则与恒星诞生区内的年轻炽热恒星有紧密之关联。我们银河的中心也能够形成新恒星，则是在不久前才完成的新发现。位在人马座方向的银河中心，离我们约26,700光年远。以这个距离来估算，这幅影像大约涵盖了9百光年的区域。

明日的图片: martian ingenuity