哈勃与韦伯影像: 雪茄星系

The Cigar Galaxy from Hubble and Webb
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Alberto Bolatto (UMD)

Explanation: Something strange happened to this galaxy, but what? Known as the Cigar Galaxy and cataloged as M82, red glowing gas and dust are being cast out from the center. Although this starburst galaxy was surely stirred up by a recent pass near its neighbor, large spiral galaxy M81, this doesn’t fully explain the source of the red-glowing outwardly expanding gas and dust. Evidence indicates that this material is being driven out by the combined emerging particle winds of many stars, together creating a galactic superwind. In the featured images, a Hubble Space Telescope image in visible light is shown on the left, while a James Webb Space Telescope image of the central region in infrared light is shown on the right. Detailed inspection of the new Webb image shows, unexpectedly, that this red-glowing dust is associated with hot plasma. Research into the nature of this strange nearby galaxy will surely continue.

Solar Eclipse Imagery: Notable Submissions to APOD

Tomorrow’s picture: hot star mess

哈勃与韦伯影像: 雪茄星系
影像提供: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Alberto Bolatto (UMD)

说明: 这个星系发生了一些奇怪的事，但究竟是什么？编录号为M82的雪茄星系，其星系核会喷出泛红的发光气体和尘埃。尽管这个星爆星系，肯定不久前受到了邻居大螺旋星系M81接近的激发，但这并不能完全解释这些外泛红色发光气体和尘埃的来源。证据显示这些物质，是被众多恒星粒子风共同聚成的超级星系风所推送出去的。在这幅主题影像里，左侧图板呈现哈勃太空望远镜的可见光照片，右侧图板则是韦伯太空望远镜为此区中心所拍摄的红外光照片。仔细检视这幅韦伯新影像后，很意外的发现这些散发红光的尘埃与炽热的电浆有关。对这个奇特邻近星系本质的研究，势必会持续下去。