IC 443: 水母星云

2023年12月26日

IC 443: The Jellyfish Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: David Payne

Explanation: Why is this jellyfish swimming in a sea of stars? Drifting near bright star Eta Geminorum, seen at the right, the Jellyfish Nebula extends its tentacles from the bright arcing ridge of emission left of center. In fact, the cosmic jellyfish is part of bubble-shaped supernova remnant IC 443, the expanding debris cloud from a massive star that exploded. Light from the explosion first reached planet Earth over 30,000 years ago. Like its cousin in astronomical waters, the Crab Nebula supernova remnant IC 443 is known to harbor a neutron star — the remnant of the collapsed stellar core. The Jellyfish Nebula is about 5,000 light-years away. At that distance, the featured image would span about 140 light-years across.

Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (post 1995)

Tomorrow’s picture: rainbow aurora

IC 443: 水母星云
影像提供与版权: David Payne

说明: 为何会有水母悠游在恒星海里？影像中漂浮在亮星钺（右侧）附近的水母星云，其触手往中左方的弧形亮脊方向伸展。水母星云其实是气泡状超新星遗迹IC 443的一部份，是一颗大质量恒星爆炸后所留下的扩张碎片云。来自这个超新星爆炸的亮闪，大约在30,000年前首次传到地球。就像它在天文海洋里的同类–超新星遗迹蟹状星云一样，IC 443之内也藏着一颗星核崩塌后形成的中子星。水母星云离我们约5,000光年远。以此距离来换算，这张主题影像的跨幅约为140光年。 （Jellyfish Nebula 水母星云; Eta Gem 钺）

您的天空惊喜: APOD在你生日那天展示了哪张照片？（1995年后）

明日的图片: rainbow aurora