郁金香星云与黑洞天鹅X-1

2024年8月28日

Tulip Nebula and Black Hole Cygnus X-1
Image Credit & Copyright: Anirudh Shastry

Explanation: When can you see a black hole, a tulip, and a swan all at once? At night — if the timing is right, and if your telescope is pointed in the right direction. The complex and beautiful Tulip Nebula blossoms about 8,000 light-years away toward the constellation of Cygnus the Swan. Ultraviolet radiation from young energetic stars at the edge of the Cygnus OB3 association, including O star HDE 227018, ionizes the atoms and powers the emission from the Tulip Nebula. Stewart Sharpless cataloged this nearly 70 light-years across reddish glowing cloud of interstellar gas and dust in 1959, as Sh2-101. Also in the featured field of view is the black hole Cygnus X-1, which to be a microquasar because it is one of strongest X-ray sources in planet Earth’s sky. Blasted by powerful jets from a lurking black hole, its fainter bluish curved shock front is only faintly visible beyond the cosmic Tulip’s petals, near the right side of the frame.

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郁金香星云与黑洞天鹅X-1
影像提供与版权: Anirudh Shastry

说明: 何时能同时见到黑洞、郁金香和天鹅？答案是夜晚；假如时间抓得很精准，而望远镜又朝着正确的方向。影像中的这团明亮泛红、名为郁金香星云的星际气体与尘埃云，是天文学家斯图尔特·沙普利斯在1959年所编录的星表里，编号Sh2-101的天体。而形状复杂、宽将近70光年的美丽郁金香星云，则在天鹅 座方向约8,000光年远处展现风华。位于天鹅座OB3星协（成员包括O型星HDE 227018）边缘的年轻活跃恒星，发出强烈的紫外辐射，电离郁金香星云的原子并驱动星云发出辐射。此外，出现在这片视野里的，还有黑洞天鹅座X-1；它是地球天空中最强烈的X射线源之一，故也可能是一颗微类星体。在这张影像的右侧，可见受到这颗黑洞的强烈喷流之冲击，从而形成的、位于郁金香星云花瓣后方的暗淡泛蓝弓形激波前沿。

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