NGC 206与仙女星系的恒星云

2023年4月12日

NGC 206 and the Star Clouds of Andromeda
Image Credit & Copyright: Howard Trottier

Explanation: The large stellar association cataloged as NGC 206 is nestled within the dusty arms of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy along with the galaxy’s pinkish star-forming regions. Also known as M31, the spiral galaxy is a mere 2.5 million light-years away. NGC 206 is found right of center in this sharp and detailed close-up of the southwestern extent of Andromeda’s disk. The bright, blue stars of NGC 206 indicate its youth. In fact, its youngest massive stars are less than 10 million years old. Much larger than the open or galactic clusters of young stars in the disk of our Milky Way galaxy, NGC 206 spans about 4,000 light-years. That’s comparable in size to the giant stellar nurseries NGC 604 in nearby spiral M33 and the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Tomorrow’s picture: intergalactic wanderer

NGC 206与仙女星系的恒星云
影像提供与版权: Howard Trottier

说明: 编录号为NGC 206的庞大星协，位在仙女星系满布尘埃的螺旋臂之内，与它为伴的还有许多此星系的粉红恒星形成区。这个离我们只有2百50万光年远的螺旋星系，亦名为M31。在这幅仙女星系西南盘面的清晰细致特写影像里，NGC 206位在影像的中心偏右之处。 NGC 206之内星色泛蓝的亮星，显示它还相当年轻，它最年轻的大质量恒星之年龄甚至还不到1千万年。跨幅约为4,000光年NGC 206，远比银河盘面上的疏散星团（或称银河星团）大，其大小和邻近螺旋星系M33内的大恒星形成区NGC 604及大麦哲伦星系的蜘蛛星云相当。