礁湖星云活跃的中心

2020 June 1

The Lively Center of the Lagoon Nebula
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Copyright: Diego Gravinese

Explanation: The center of the Lagoon Nebula is a whirlwind of spectacular star formation. Visible near the image center, at least two long funnel-shaped clouds, each roughly half a light-year long, have been formed by extreme stellar winds and intense energetic starlight. A tremendously bright nearby star, Hershel 36, lights the area. Vast walls of dust hide and redden other hot young stars. As energy from these stars pours into the cool dust and gas, large temperature differences in adjoining regions can be created generating shearing winds which may cause the funnels. This picture, spanning about 15 light years, features two colors detected by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. The Lagoon Nebula, also known as >M8, lies about 5000 light years distant toward the constellation of the Archer Sagittarius.

Tomorrow’s picture: human foe

礁湖星云活跃的中心
影像提供: NASA, ESA, Hubble; 影像处理与版权: Diego Gravinese

说明: 礁湖星云的中心正在进行剧烈壮观的造星活动。在影像的中心附近，至少可以找到两根长达半光年、由超强恒星风和高能星光吹袭而成的漏斗形云气柱。而附近极端明亮的恒星Hershel 36，则照亮了整个区域。此外，还可见到红化或遮掩其他炽热年轻恒星的厚重尘埃云墙。随着这些恒星的能量流进冰冷的尘埃和云气，横跨在毗邻区域巨大温差所形成的剪向风，可能就是造成这些漏斗云柱的主因。上面这张涵盖了15光年天区的影像，是由哈伯太空望远镜所拍摄的二色照片组合而成。编录号为M8的礁湖星云，位在黄道上的人马座方向，离我们约有5,000光年远。

明日的图片: human foe