装饰星空

2019 December 12

Decorating the Sky
Image Credit & Copyright: Leonardo Julio (Astronomia Pampeana)

Explanation: Bright stars, clouds of dust and glowing nebulae decorate this cosmic scene, a skyscape just north of Orion’s belt. Close to the plane of our Milky Way galaxy, the wide field view spans about 5.5 degrees. Striking bluish M78, a reflection nebula, is on the right. M78’s tint is due to dust preferentially reflecting the blue light of hot, young stars. In colorful contrast, the red sash of glowing hydrogen gas sweeping through the center is part of the region’s faint but extensive emission nebula known as Barnard’s Loop. At lower left, a dark dust cloud forms a prominent silhouette cataloged as LDN 1622. While M78 and the complex Barnard’s Loop are some 1,500 light-years away, LDN 1622 is likely to be much closer, only about 500 light-years distant from our fair planet Earth.

装饰星空
影像来源与版权: Leonardo Julio (Astronomia Pampeana)

说明：明亮的恒星、尘埃云和炽热星云装饰了这幅猎户腰带以北的宇宙影像。这片跨度约5.5度的视野呈现了我们银河系盘面附近的景象。引人注目的蓝色反射星云M78位于影像的右侧。M78的色彩是由于尘埃优先反射了炽热年轻恒星的蓝光所导致的。而形成鲜明对比的是，贯穿影像中心的红色炽热氢气是该区域中广阔且黯淡的发射星云-巴纳德环的一部分。影像左下方的显著剪影是编录号为LDN 1622的黑暗尘埃云。M78和复杂的巴纳德环距离我们约1500光年远，而LDN 1622可能更近，距离我们地球只有500光年远。