仙王座内黑暗的海马星云

2019 October 24

Dark Seahorse in Cepheus
Image Credit & Copyright: Sergio Kaminsky

Explanation: Light-years across, this suggestive shape known as the Seahorse Nebula appears in silhouette against a rich, luminous background of stars. Seen toward the royal northern constellation of Cepheus, the dusty, obscuring clouds are part of a Milky Way molecular cloud some 1,200 light-years distant. It is also listed as Barnard 150 (B150), one of 182 dark markings of the sky cataloged in the early 20th century by astronomer E. E. Barnard. Packs of low mass stars are forming within from collapsing cores only visible at long infrared wavelengths. Still, colorful stars in Cepheus add to the pretty, galactic skyscape.

仙王座内黑暗的海马星云
影像来源与版权: Sergio Kaminsky

说明：这个跨越数光年、具有暗示性外形结构的天体被称为海马星云，在繁星点点的明亮背景衬托下呈现出黑暗的轮廓。这个满是尘埃的模糊星云位于北天仙王座方向，是距离约我们1200光年远的银河系分子云的一部分。它的编录号为巴纳德150 （B150），是天文学家巴纳德在20世纪初编录的182个暗星云之一。大量的低质量恒星正在坍缩的星核中形成，这仅在长波红外波段下才能看到。此外，仙王座内五彩缤纷的恒星为这片美丽的银河星空增添了色彩。