麒麟座的丝带

2022年3月18日

A Filament in Monoceros
Image Credit & Copyright: Giorgio Ferrari

Explanation: Bluish reflection nebulae seem to fill this dusty expanse. The sharp telescopic frame spans over 1 degree on the sky toward the faint but fanciful constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn. Seen within the Monoceros R1 cloud complex some 2,500 light-years away, bluish IC 447 is on the left, joined by a long dark filament of dust to IC 446 at lower right. Embedded in IC 447 are young, massive blue stars much hotter than the Sun, whose light is reflected by the cosmic cloud of star stuff. Observations reveal that IC 446 also contains a young stellar object, a massive star still in an early stage of evolution. The dark filament of dust and molecular gas joining the two star-forming regions is over 15 light-years long.

Tomorrow’s picture: 2MASS J17554042+6551277

麒麟座的丝带
影像提供与版权: Giorgio Ferrari

说明: 在这片广阔尘埃飞扬的空间里，到处都是泛蓝的反射星云。这片无比清晰的望远镜视野，涵盖昏暗的麒麟座方向约1度宽的天空。位在约2,500光年远的麒麟R1复合体里之内的这片区域，左侧有泛蓝的IC 447，右下角则有与它为伴并以长长的黝黑造星物质带相连的IC 446。IC 447里嵌着一些远比太阳炽热的年轻大质量泛蓝色星，而宇宙尘埃云所反射的就是它们发出的星光。观测显示IC 446还藏着一个年轻的星体，一颗仍处于演化早期阶段的大质量恒星。而这道连接两个恒星形成区，由尘埃和分子气体聚成的黝黑丝带，长度超过15光年。

明日的图片: 2MASS J17554042+6551277