NGC 1365: 壮丽的宇宙岛

2024年2月1日

NGC 1365: Majestic Island Universe
Image Credit & Copyright: Processing – Jean-Baptiste Auroux, Data – Mike Selby

Explanation: Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 is truly a majestic island universe some 200,000 light-years across. Located a mere 60 million light-years away toward the faint but heated constellation Fornax, NGC 1365 is a dominant member of the well-studied Fornax Cluster of galaxies. This sharp color image shows the intense, reddish star forming regions near the ends of the galaxy’s central bar and along its spiral arms. Seen in fine detail, obscuring dust lanes cut across the galaxy’s bright core. At the core lies a supermassive black hole. Astronomers think NGC 1365’s prominent bar plays a crucial role in the galaxy’s evolution, drawing gas and dust into a star-forming maelstrom and ultimately feeding material into the central black hole.

Tomorrow’s picture: pixels in space

NGC 1365: 壮丽的宇宙岛
影像提供与版权: 影像制作 – Jean-Baptiste Auroux, 数据提供 – Mike Selby

说明: 宏伟美丽的棒旋星系NGC1365，是个跨幅约200,000光年的宇宙岛。近在天炉座方向6千万光年处的NGC 1365，是备受研究的天炉座星系团里，最具主宰性的成员星系之一。在这幅清晰的彩色影像里，可以看到在核心棒的末端和螺旋臂上，都有活跃的恒星形成区，而切过星系明亮核心的尘埃带，其细微的结构也都清楚可辨。此星系的核心则藏着一颗超大质量黑洞。天文学家认为NGC 1365醒目的星系棒，在星系演化里扮演着很关键的角色，它吸引气体和尘埃聚成恒星形成区，并提供物质喂食位在星系核心的黑洞。

明日的图片: pixels in space