智利上空的大与小麦哲伦星系

2023年2月11日

Magellanic Clouds over Chile
Image Credit & Copyright: Felipe Mac Auliffe López

Explanation: The two prominent clouds in this Chilean Atacama Desert skyscape captured on January 21 actually lie beyond our Milky Way galaxy. Known as the Large and the Small Magellanic Clouds they are so named for the 16th century Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, leader of the first circumnavigation of planet Earth. Famous jewels of southern hemisphere skies, they are the brightest satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. The larger cloud is some 160,000 light-years, and the smaller 210,000 light-years distant. While both are irregular dwarf galaxies in their own right, they exhibit central barred structures in the deep wide-angle view. Wide and deep exposures also reveal faint dusty galactic cirrus nebulae and the imprints of gravitational tidal interactions between the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.

Tomorrow’s picture: another cloudy day

智利上空的大与小麦哲伦星系
图像提供与版权: Felipe Mac Auliffe López

说明: 在1月21日摄于智利阿塔卡玛沙漠的这幅星空图像里，天空中那两朵很醒目的云，其实位在我们银河系外头。这两朵“云”名为大与小麦哲伦星系，是因16世纪葡萄牙探险家及人类首次环球航海的领队费南多.麦哲伦而得名。这对南半球著名的珍寳，同时也是我们银河最明亮的伴星系。其中较大的大麦哲伦星系约有160,000光年远，而较小的小麦哲伦星系，则约在210,000光年之外。虽然它们的分类皆是不规则矮星系，但是在这幅深空广角图像里，却可见到它们都有棒状的核心结构。此外，广视野的深空图像显示，大与小麦哲伦星系之间有暗淡的尘埃星系卷须星云，及因彼此的重力潮汐作用所产生的各种印记。

明日的图片: another cloudy day