马头星云

2023年11月20日

The Horsehead Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson & Martin Pugh, SSRO, PROMPT, CTIO, NSF

Explanation: Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, a magnificent interstellar dust cloud by chance has assumed this recognizable shape. Fittingly named the Horsehead Nebula, it is some 1,500 light-years distant, embedded in the vast Orion cloud complex. About five light-years “tall,” the dark cloud is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is visible only because its obscuring dust is silhouetted against the glowing red emission nebula IC 434. Stars are forming within the dark cloud. Contrasting blue reflection nebula NGC 2023, surrounding a hot, young star, is at the lower left of the full image. The featured gorgeous color image combines both narrowband and broadband images recorded using several different telescopes.

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马头星云
影像提供与版权: Mark Hanson & Martin Pugh, SSRO, PROMPT, CTIO, NSF

说明: 在恒星风和辐射的雕塑下，一团庞大的星际尘埃云，意外地拥有我们很熟悉的形状，并很贴切的博得马头星云之命名。这团名为“马头”的暗星云，是距离我们约1,500光年远的庞大猎户座大星云复合体之一部份。这个高约5光年，有恒星正形成于其内的暗星云，也另有巴纳德33之称。而它之所以现踪，则是因为其不透光尘埃所造成的剪影，镶在明亮的泛红发射星云IC 434之内。在更完整影像的左下角，色泽形成鲜明对比的泛蓝反射星云NGC 2023，则是环拱在炽热年轻恒星周围的星云。这幅壮丽的主题影像，是由数部望远镜拍摄的宽与窄波段影像整合而成。