2025年2月3日

Wolf-Rayet Star 124: Stellar Wind Machine
Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive, NASA, ESA; Processing & License: Judy Schmidt

Explanation: Some stars explode in slow motion. Rare, massive Wolf-Rayet stars are so tumultuous and hot that they are slowly disintegrating right before our telescopes. Glowing gas globs each typically over 30 times more massive than the Earth are being expelled by violent stellar winds. Wolf-Rayet star WR 124, visible near the featured image center and spanning six light years across, is thus creating the surrounding nebula known as M1-67. Details of why this star has been slowly blowing itself apart over the past 20,000 years remains a topic of research. WR 124 lies 15,000 light-years away towards the constellation of the Arrow (Sagitta). The fate of any given Wolf-Rayet star likely depends on how massive it is, but many are thought to end their lives with spectacular explosions such as supernovas or gamma-ray bursts.

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沃尔夫-拉叶星124: 恒星风机器
影像提供: Hubble Legacy Archive, NASA, ESA; 影像处理与授权: Judy Schmidt

说明: 有些恒星爆炸的过程极为缓慢。罕见、大质量的沃尔夫-拉叶星，极端高温而且极端活跃，它们几乎是在望远镜的注视下缓缓崩解。因为在猛烈恒星风的吹送下，恒星会喷出一团团通常超过30倍地球质量的光亮气体。例如于上面这张跨幅6光年的影像中心之沃尔夫-拉叶星124（WR 124），就以此在周围产生了名为M1-67的星云。在过去2万年之中，为何这颗恒星会缓缓自我分解，其细节仍是研究的题材。WR 124位在北天的天箭 座内，离我们约有15,000光年远。沃尔夫-拉叶星的宿命，可能会因它有多少质量而异，不过，许多可能会以壮观的超新星或伽玛射线爆发，来终结它们的生命。

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