保护地球，探索宇宙，发现文明
根据NASA钱德拉X射线天文台和美国国家科学基金会卡尔·F·杨斯基超大型阵列(VLA)的观测，一个双星系统一直在两个不同的自我之间转换。研究人员使用了将近15年的钱德拉的数据，发现恒星二人组的行为就像一种物体切换其标识，然后在几年后返回其原始状态。这是一个罕见的恒星系统以这种方式改变其行为的例子。 天文学家在密集的恒星群中发现了这个易变的双星系统，即球状星团Terzan 5，它距离地球约2万光年，位于银河系中。这个被称为Terzan 5 CX1的双星有一颗中子星(超新星爆炸后留下的密度极高的残骸)，它围绕着一颗类似太阳的恒星运行，但质量较小。 在这张新的Terzan 5(右)图像中，钱德拉探测到的低、中、高能X射线分别为红色、绿色和蓝色。左边，哈勃太空望远镜拍摄的图像显示了同样的光学视野。Terzan 5 CX...
2020 February 21 LDN 1622: Dark Nebula in Orion Image Credit & Copyright: Min Xie Explanation: The silhouette of an intriguing dark nebula inhabits this cosmic scene. Lynds’ Dark Nebula (LDN) 1622 appears against a faint background of glowing hydrogen gas only visible in long telescopic exposures of the region. In contrast, the brighter reflection ...
On February 20, 1962, NASA launched one of the most important flights in American history. The mission? Send a man to orbit Earth, observe his reactions and return him home safely. The pilot of this historic flight, John Glenn, became a national hero and a symbol of American ambition. NASA’s Multiple Axis Space Test Inertia Facility, or Gimbal Rig, was...
2020 February 20 Trifecta at Twilight Image Credit & Copyright: Paul Schmit, Gary Schmit Explanation: On February 18, as civil twilight began in northern New Mexico skies, the International Space Station, a waning crescent Moon, and planet Mars for a moment shared this well-planned single field of view. From the photographer’s location the sky had ...
2020年2月，美国国家航空航天局（NASA）的太阳动力学观测台（Solar Dynamics Observatory，SDO）迎来了在太空的第10年。在过去十年间，这艘航天器一直在对太阳进行观测，研究如太阳活动是如何产生以及太阳是如何驱动空间天气的。空间天气是一个动态的系统，会影响整个太阳系，包括地球。 自2010年2月11日发射升空以来，SDO已经收集了数百万张太阳的科学图像，使科学家们对其运转有了新的见解。SDO对太阳的测量 – 从太阳内部结构到大气、磁场以及能量输出 – 都非常有助于增进我们对它的了解。SDO的图像也变得具有标志性 – 如果你曾经看到过太阳活动的特写，则很可能就是SDO所拍摄的图像。 SDO在太空中的漫长职业生涯使它得以见证了几乎一整个太阳周期 ...
Thick white clouds are present in this JunoCam image of Jupiter’s equatorial zone. These clouds complicate the interpretation of infrared measurements of water. At microwave frequencies, the same clouds are transparent, allowing Juno’s Microwave Radiometer to measure water deep into Jupiter’s atmosphere. The image was acquired during Juno&#...
2020 February 19 UGC 12591: The Fastest Rotating Galaxy Known Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Copyright: Leo Shatz Explanation: Why does this galaxy spin so fast? To start, even identifying which type of galaxy UGC 12591 is difficult — featured on the lower left, it has dark dust lanes like a spiral galaxy but a large diffuse bulge of...
2020 February 18 Orion over the Central Bohemian Highlands Image Credit & Copyright: Vojtěch Bauer Explanation: Do you recognize this constellation? Setting past the Central Bohemian Highlands in the Czech Republic is Orion, one of the most identifiable star groupings on the sky and an icon familiar to humanity for over 30,000 years. Orion has looked pre...
Credit：SpaceX 北京时间2月17日23时5分，SpaceX在卡纳维拉尔角空军基地SLC-40平台，成功发射了第五批60颗星链卫星。 这枚猎鹰九号一级火箭是四手火箭，曾三次执行过发射任务，分别是在2019年5月执行过CRS-17空间站补给任务，2019年7月执行过CRS-18空间站补给任务，并在2019年12月执行过JCSAT-18/Kacific1发射任务。 第五批星链卫星的升空是SpaceX今年第二次发射星链卫星，是今年的第三次发射任务。 Space X原计划在大西洋海面回收分离后的猎鹰9号一级火箭，但最后直播画面没有看到四手火箭回收的画面，貌似失败了。 另外SpaceX还计划使用两艘整流罩回收船“Ms. Tree” 和 “Ms. Chief回收两片整流罩。 星链60卫星在火箭升空大约15分钟后，...
2020 February 17 The Changing Surface of Fading Betelgeuse Image Credit: ESO, M. Montargès et al. Explanation: Besides fading, is Betelgeuse changing its appearance? Yes. The famous red supergiant star in the familiar constellation of Orion is so large that telescopes on Earth can actually resolve its surface — although just barely. The two featured im...