2025年3月6日
Starburst Galaxy Messier 94
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble and NASA
Explanation: Beautiful island universe Messier 94 lies a mere 15 million light-years distant in the northern constellation of the hunting dogs, Canes Venatici. A popular target for earth-based astronomers, the face-on spiral galaxy is about 30,000 light-years across, with spiral arms sweeping through the outskirts of its broad disk. But this Hubble Space Telescope field of view spans about 7,000 light-years or so across M94’s central region. The sharp close-up examines the galaxy’s compact, bright nucleus and prominent inner dust lanes, surrounded by a remarkable bluish ring of young, massive stars. The massive stars in the ring appear to be less than about 10 million years old, indicating the galaxy experienced a corresponding well-defined era of rapid star formation. As a result, while the small, bright nucleus is typical of the Seyfert class of active galaxies, M94 is also known as a starburst galaxy. Because M94 is relatively nearby, astronomers can explore in detail reasons for the galaxy’s burst of star formation.
Today’s Coverage: Moon Landing
Tomorrow’s picture: pixels in space
星遽增（星暴）星系M94
影像提供: ESA/Hubble and NASA
说明: 位在北天猎犬座方向的美丽星系M94，离我们只有1千5百万光年远。这个直径约为3万光年、宽广核心盘外围镶着螺旋臂的正面星系，是地球上的天文学家常进行探索的热门标的。这张跨幅约7,000光年的哈勃太空望远镜影像，涵盖了M94的中心区。进行此清晰特写的目标，在于检视此星系泛蓝大质量年轻恒星环内的密实明亮核心与醒目的尘埃带。恒星环上的大质量恒星之年龄，可能不到1千万年，显示此星系在特定年代经历了剧烈的恒星形成活动。也因此，拥有赛弗特型活跃星系典型小而明亮星系核的M94，其分类为星遽增/星暴星系。由于M94相对邻近，天文学家得以仔细探索此星系之所以发生爆发性恒星诞生的原因。
今日报道: 登月
明日的图片: pixels in space
