年轻星团NGC 1333

2024年9月12日

Young Star Cluster NGC 1333
Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, A. Scholz, K. Muzic, A. Langeveld, R. Jayawardhana

Explanation: This spectacular mosaic of images from the James Webb Space Telescope peers into the heart of young star cluster NGC 1333. A mere 1,000 light-years distant toward the heroic constellation Perseus, the nearby star cluster lies at the edge of the large Perseus molecular cloud. Part of Webb’s deep exploration of the region to identify low mass brown dwarf stars and free floating planets, the space telescope’s combined field of view spans nearly 2 light-years across the dusty cluster’s turbulent stellar nursery. In fact, NGC 1333 is known to harbor stars less than a million years old, though most are hidden from optical telescopes by the pervasive stardust. The chaotic environment may be similar to one in which our own Sun formed over 4.5 billion years ago.

Tomorrow’s picture: pixels in space

年轻星团NGC 1333
影像提供与版权: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, A. Scholz, K. Muzic, A. Langeveld, R. Jayawardhana

说明: 韦伯太空望远镜拍摄的这幅壮观的马赛克影像，窥探了年轻星团NGC 1333的核心。此星云在英仙座方向，座落在一个庞大、正在诞生恒星的分子云之边缘，距离我们只有1,000光年远。韦伯太空望远镜对该区域进行深入探索，以识别低质量的棕矮星和自由漂浮的行星。这张合成影像的视野横跨近2光年，涵盖了整个尘埃密布的星团中活力十足的恒星育婴室。NGC 1333庇护着年龄不到百万年的稚龄恒星，但是，因受到无所不在的星尘之遮掩，大多数在光学望远镜不得见。此外，NGC 1333所在的这种浑沌的状态，可能和45亿年前我们太阳形成时的环境相似。

明日的图片: pixels in space