2025年2月25日
M41: The Little Beehive Star Cluster
Image Credit & Copyright: Xinran Li
Explanation: Why are there so many bright blue stars? Stars are usually born in clusters, and the brightest and most massive of these stars typically glow blue. Less-bright, non-blue stars like our Sun surely also exist in this M41 star cluster but are harder to see. A few bright orange-appearing red giant stars are visible. The red-light filaments are emitted by diffuse hydrogen gas, a color that was specifically filtered and enhanced in this image. In a hundred million years or so, the bright blue stars will have exploded in supernovas and disappeared, while the slightly different trajectories of the fainter stars will cause this picturesque open cluster to disperse. Similarly, billions of years ago, our own Sun was likely born into a star cluster like M41, but it has long since drifted apart from its sister stars. The featured image was captured over four hours with Chilescope T2 in Chile.
Tomorrow’s picture: Einstein’s ring
M41: 小蜂巢星团
影像提供与版权: Xinran Li
说明: 为何该处有这么多明亮的蓝色恒星？恒星通常会抱团诞生，其中最明亮、最大质量的恒星会散发泛蓝的光芒。在这幅M41的影像里，虽然像太阳这种较暗、非蓝色的恒星也必然存在，但较难辨认，而其他可见的，还有一些橙红的明亮红巨星。影像视野里，清楚可辨的泛红丝状结构，则是弥漫的氢气云，由于影像是透过特定的红光滤镜所拍摄，因此它们显得格外醒目。这些泛蓝大质量恒星的寿命极为短暂，大约在一亿年内，它们就会发生超新星爆炸并消失匿踪，而较暗的恒星，也会因为个别恒星的轨迹略有不同，最终让这个美丽的疏散星团零落四散。在数十亿年前，太阳或许也是诞生于像M41这样的星团之中，如今它早已和当年的姊妹恒星 分道扬镳。这幅总曝光时间为4小时的主题影像，是由位于智利的智利望远镜T2所拍摄。
明日的图片: Einstein’s ring
