2025年2月20日
Messier 87
Image Credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team
Explanation: Enormous elliptical galaxy Messier 87 is about 50 million light-years away. Also known as NGC 4486, the giant galaxy holds trillions of stars compared to the mere billions of stars in our large spiral Milky Way. M87 reigns as the large central elliptical galaxy in the Virgo galaxy cluster. An energetic jet from the giant galaxy’s core is seen to stretch outward for about 5,000 light-years in this sharp optical and near-infrared view from the Hubble Space Telescope. In fact, the cosmic blow torch is seen across the electromagnetic spectrum from gamma-rays to radio wavelengths. Its ultimate power source is M87’s central, supermassive black hole. An image of this monster in the middle of M87 has been captured by planet Earth’s Event Horizon Telescope.
Tomorrow’s picture: our friendly neighbor
M87
影像提供: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team
说明: 庞大的椭圆星系M87，离我们约5,000万光年远。与仅有数千亿颗恒星的银河系相较，身为室女座星系团最大的椭圆星系之M87，拥有数兆颗成员恒星。在这张由哈勃太空望远镜所拍摄的光学与近红外光影像里，可清楚见到一道源自M87核心、向外伸展约5,000光年的高能喷流。这道宇宙级的“喷焰”，在伽马射线到无线电波的整个电磁波谱皆可见。而驱动这道喷流的能量源，则是位于M87核心的超大质量黑洞。地球上的事件视界望远镜（EHT），曾为M87核心的这头宇宙怪兽，拍下了历史性的影像。
明日的图片: our friendly neighbor
