NGC 6188：天坛座的龙形云气

NGC 6188：天坛座的龙形云气

ByNASA中文

2020年7月28日 NGC 6188: The Dragons of Ara Image Credit & Copyright: Ariel L. Cappelletti Explanation: Dark shapes with bright edges winging their way through dusty NGC 6188 are tens of light-years long. The emission nebula is found near the edge of an otherwise dark and large molecular cloud in the southern constellation Ara, about 4,000 light-years away. Born in that region only a few million years ago, the massive young stars of the embedded Ara OB1 association sculpt the fantastic shapes and power the nebular glow with stellar winds and intense ultraviolet radiation. The recent star formation itself was likely triggered by winds and supernova explosions, from previous generations of massive stars, that swept up and compressed the molecular gas. The featured image accumulated over…

林茨暗星云1251

林茨暗星云1251

ByNASA中文

2020 July 3 Lynds Dark Nebula 1251 Image Credit & Copyright: Ara Jerahian Explanation: Stars are forming in Lynds Dark Nebula (LDN) 1251. About 1,000 light-years away and drifting above the plane of our Milky Way galaxy, the dusty molecular cloud is part of a complex of dark nebulae mapped toward the Cepheus flare region. Across the spectrum, astronomical explorations of the obscuring interstellar clouds reveal energetic shocks and outflows associated with newborn stars, including the telltale reddish glow from scattered Herbig-Haro objects seen in this sharp image. Distant background galaxies also lurk on the scene, buried behind the dusty expanse. This alluring view imaged with a backyard telescope and broadband filters spans about two full moons on the sky, or 17 light-years at the…

IC 410的蝌蚪云

IC 410的蝌蚪云

ByNASA中文

2020 June 18 The Tadpoles of IC 410 Image Credit & Copyright: Trevor Jones Explanation: This telescopic close-up shows off the central regions of otherwise faint emission nebula IC 410, captured under backyard suburban skies with narrowband filters. It also features two remarkable inhabitants of the cosmic pond of gas and dust. Below and right of center are the tadpoles of IC 410. Partly obscured by foreground dust, the nebula itself surrounds NGC 1893, a young galactic cluster of stars. Formed in the interstellar cloud a mere 4 million years ago, the intensely hot, bright cluster stars energize the glowing gas. Composed of denser cooler gas and dust, the tadpoles are around 10 light-years long and are likely sites of ongoing star formation. Sculpted by…

IC 2944：奔鸡星云

IC 2944：奔鸡星云

ByNASA中文

2020 April 20 IC 2944: The Running Chicken Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Filas Explanation: To some, it looks like a giant chicken running across the sky. To others, it looks like a gaseous nebula where star formation takes place. Cataloged as IC 2944, the Running Chicken Nebula spans about 100 light years and lies about 6,000 light years away toward the constellation of the Centaur (Centaurus). The featured image, shown in scientifically assigned colors, was captured recently in a 12-hour exposure. The star cluster Collinder 249 is visible embedded in the nebula’s glowing gas. Although difficult to discern here, several dark molecular clouds with distinct shapes can be found inside the nebula. Tomorrow’s picture: eye on IC 2944：奔鸡星云 影像提供与版权: Juan Filas 说明: 有人会说，它像是在天空飞奔的庞大鸡只，而对其他人而言，它是一团有恒星形成于其内的云气。编录号为IC…

斯皮策望远镜的三叶星云

斯皮策望远镜的三叶星云

ByNASA中文

2020 February 13 Spitzer’s Trifid Image Credit: J. Rho (SSC/Caltech), JPL-Caltech, NASA Explanation: The Trifid Nebula, also known as Messier 20, is easy to find with a small telescope. About 30 light-years across and 5,500 light-years distant it’s a popular stop for cosmic tourists in the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. As its name suggests, visible light pictures show the nebula divided into three parts by dark, obscuring dust lanes. But this penetrating infrared image reveals the Trifid’s filaments of glowing dust clouds and newborn stars. The spectacular false-color view is courtesy of the Spitzer Space Telescope. Astronomers have used the infrared image data to count newborn and embryonic stars which otherwise can lie hidden in the natal dust and gas clouds of this intriguing stellar…

心宿增四星云的年轻恒星

心宿增四星云的年轻恒星

ByKen Chan

2019 November 17 Young Stars in the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, WISE Explanation: How do stars form? To help find out, astronomers created this tantalizing false-color composition of dust clouds and embedded newborn stars in infrared wavelengths with WISE, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. The cosmic canvas features one of the closest star forming regions, part of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex some 400 light-years distant near the southern edge of the pronounceable constellation Ophiuchus. After forming along a large cloud of cold molecular hydrogen gas, young stars heat the surrounding dust to produce the infrared glow. Stars in the process of formation, called young stellar objects or YSOs, are embedded in the compact pinkish nebulae seen here, but are otherwise hidden…

M16与鹰状星云

M16与鹰状星云

ByKen Chan

2019 November 15 M16 and the Eagle Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh Explanation: A star cluster around 2 million years young surrounded by natal clouds of dust and glowing gas, M16 is also known as The Eagle Nebula. This beautifully detailed portrait of the region was made with groundbased narrow and broadband image data. It includes cosmic sculptures made famous in Hubble Space Telescope close-ups of the starforming complex. Described as elephant trunks or Pillars of Creation, dense, dusty columns rising near the center are light-years in length but are gravitationally contracting to form stars. Energetic radiation from the cluster stars erodes material near the tips, eventually exposing the embedded new stars. Extending from the ridge of bright emission at lower left is…

NGC 3572与南天中的蝌蚪

NGC 3572与南天中的蝌蚪

ByGotthew

2019 November 8 NGC 3572 and the Southern Tadpoles Image Credit & Copyright: Josep Drudis Explanation: This cosmic skyscape features glowing gas and dark dust clouds along side the young stars of NGC 3572. A beautiful emission nebula and star cluster in far southern skies, the region is often overlooked by astroimagers in favor of its brighter neighbor, the nearby Carina Nebula. Stars from NGC 3572 are toward the upper left in the telescopic frame that would measure about 100 light-years across at the cluster’s estimated distant of 9,000 light-years. The visible interstellar gas and dust is part of the star cluster’s natal molecular cloud. Dense streamers of material within the nebula, eroded by stellar winds and radiation, clearly trail away from the energetic young…

礁湖星云中央附近的影像

礁湖星云中央附近的影像

ByNASA中文

2019 November 4 Near the Center of the Lagoon Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Zhuoqun Wu, Chilescope Explanation: Stars are battling gas and dust in the Lagoon Nebula but the photographers are winning. Also known as M8, this photogenic nebula is visible even without binoculars towards the constellation of the Archer (Sagittarius). The energetic processes of star formation create not only the colors but the chaos. The glowing gas results from high-energy starlight striking interstellar hydrogen gas and trace amounts of sulfur, and oxygen gases. The dark dust filaments that lace M8 were created in the atmospheres of cool giant stars and in the debris from supernovae explosions. The light from M8 we see today left about 5,000 years ago. Light takes about 50 years…

仙王座内黑暗的海马星云

仙王座内黑暗的海马星云

ByGotthew

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。