NGC 7380: 巫师星云

NGC 7380: 巫师星云

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2022年11月14日 NGC 7380: The Wizard Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Ioan Popa Explanation: What powers are being wielded in the Wizard Nebula? Gravitation strong enough to form stars, and stellar winds and radiations powerful enough to create and dissolve towers of gas. Located only 8,000 light years away, the Wizard nebula, featured here, surrounds developing open star cluster NGC 7380. Visually, the interplay of stars, gas, and dust has created a shape that appears to some like a fictional medieval sorcerer. The active star forming region spans 100 about light years, making it appear larger than the angular extent of the Moon. The Wizard Nebula can be located with a small telescope toward the constellation of the King of Aethiopia (Cepheus). Although the nebula may…

NGC 6357：龙虾星云

NGC 6357：龙虾星云

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2022年11月1日 NGC 6357: The Lobster Nebula Image Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA; Processing: T. A. Rector (U. Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), J. Miller (Gemini Obs./NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab) Explanation: Why is the Lobster Nebula forming some of the most massive stars known? No one is yet sure. Cataloged as NGC 6357, the Lobster Nebula houses the open star cluster Pismis 24 near its center — a home to unusually bright and massive stars. The overall red glow near the inner star forming region results from the emission of ionized hydrogen gas. The surrounding nebula, featured here, holds a complex tapestry of gas, dark dust, stars still forming, and newly born stars. The intricate patterns are caused by complex interactions between interstellar winds, radiation…

LDN 43: 星宇蝙蝠星云

LDN 43: 星宇蝙蝠星云

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2022年10月31日 LDN 43: The Cosmic Bat Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby; Text: Michelle Thaller (NASA’s GSFC) Explanation: What is the most spook-tacular nebula in the galaxy? One contender is LDN 43, which bears an astonishing resemblance to a vast cosmic bat flying amongst the stars on a dark Halloween night. Located about 1400 light years away in the constellation Ophiuchus, this molecular cloud is dense enough to block light not only from background stars, but from wisps of gas lit up by the nearby reflection nebula LBN 7. Far from being a harbinger of death, this 12-light year-long filament of gas and dust is actually a stellar nursery. Glowing with eerie light, the bat is lit up from inside by…

大视野图像里的茧状星云

大视野图像里的茧状星云

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2022年10月26日 Cocoon Nebula Wide Field Image Credit & Copyright: Andy Ermolli Explanation: When does a nebula look like a comet? In this crowded starfield, covering over two degrees within the high flying constellation of the Swan (Cygnus), the eye is drawn to the Cocoon Nebula. A compact star forming region, the cosmic Cocoon punctuates a nebula bright in emission and reflection on the left, with a long trail of interstellar dust clouds to the right, making the entire complex appear a bit like a comet. Cataloged as IC 5146, the central bright head of the nebula spans about 10 light years, while the dark dusty tail spans nearly 100 light years. Both are located about 2,500 light years away. The bright star near the bright…

创生之柱

创生之柱

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2022年10月20日 Pillars of Creation Image Credit: Science – NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, NIRCam Processing – Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI) Explanation: A now famous picture from the Hubble Space Telescope featured these star forming columns of cold gas and dust light-years long inside M16, the Eagle Nebula, dubbed the Pillars of Creation. This James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam image expands Hubble’s exploration of that region in greater detail and depth inside the iconic stellar nursery. Particularly stunning in Webb’s near infrared view is the telltale reddish emission from knots of material undergoing gravitational collapse to form stars within the natal clouds. The Eagle Nebula is some 6,500 light-years distant. The larger bright emission nebula is itself an easy target for…

移除恒星的老鹰星云

移除恒星的老鹰星云

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2022年10月4日 Star-Forming Eagle Nebula without Stars Image Credit & Copyright: Yannick Akar Explanation: The whole thing looks like an eagle. A closer look at the Eagle Nebula’s center, however, shows the bright region is actually a window into the center of a larger dark shell of dust. Through this window, a brightly-lit workshop appears where a whole open cluster of stars is being formed. In this cavity tall pillars and round globules of dark dust and cold molecular gas remain where stars are still forming. Paradoxically, it is perhaps easier to appreciate this impressive factory of star formation by seeing it without its stars — which have been digitally removed in the featured image. The Eagle emission nebula, tagged M16, lies about 6500 light years…

鹰状星云的仙女

鹰状星云的仙女

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2022年9月25日 The Fairy of Eagle Nebula Image Credit: Image Credit: NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Explanation: The dust sculptures of the Eagle Nebula are evaporating. As powerful starlight whittles away these cool cosmic mountains, the statuesque pillars that remain might be imagined as mythical beasts. Featured here is one of several striking dust pillars of the Eagle Nebula that might be described as a gigantic alien fairy. This fairy, however, is ten light years tall and spews radiation much hotter than common fire. The greater Eagle Nebula, M16, is actually a giant evaporating shell of gas and dust inside of which is a growing cavity filled with a spectacular stellar nursery currently forming an open cluster of stars. This great pillar, which is…

移除恒星的恒星形成区NGC 3582

移除恒星的恒星形成区NGC 3582

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2022年9月20日 Star Forming Region NGC 3582 without Stars Image Credit & Copyright: Chris Willocks Explanation: What’s happening in the Statue of Liberty nebula? Bright stars and interesting molecules are forming and being liberated. The complex nebula resides in the star forming region called RCW 57, and besides the iconic monument, to some looks like a flying superhero or a weeping angel. By digitally removing the stars, this re-assigned color image showcases dense knots of dark interstellar dust, fields of glowing hydrogen gas ionized by these stars, and great loops of gas expelled by dying stars. A detailed study of NGC 3576, also known as NGC 3582 and NGC 3584, uncovered at least 33 massive stars in the end stages of formation, and the clear presence…

IC 5146：茧状星云

IC 5146：茧状星云

ByNASA中文

2022年8月27日 IC 5146: The Cocoon Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: David Jenkins Explanation: Inside the Cocoon Nebula is a newly developing cluster of stars. Cataloged as IC 5146, the beautiful nebula is nearly 15 light-years wide. Climbing high in northern summer night skies, it’s located some 4,000 light years away toward the constellation Cygnus the Swan. Like other star forming regions, it stands out in red, glowing, hydrogen gas excited by young, hot stars, and dust-reflected starlight at the edge of an otherwise invisible molecular cloud. In fact, the bright star found near the center of this nebula is likely only a few hundred thousand years old, powering the nebular glow as it clears out a cavity in the molecular cloud’s star forming dust and…

天鹅座的恒星诞生之墙

天鹅座的恒星诞生之墙

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2022年8月15日 The Cygnus Wall of Star Formation Image Credit & Copyright: Johan Bogaerts Explanation: The North America nebula on the sky can do what the North America continent on Earth cannot — form stars. Specifically, in analogy to the Earth-confined continent, the bright part that appears as Central America and Mexico is actually a hot bed of gas, dust, and newly formed stars known as the Cygnus Wall. The featured image shows the star forming wall lit and eroded by bright young stars, and partly hidden by the dark dust they have created. The part of the North America nebula (NGC 7000) shown spans about 15 light years and lies about 1,500 light years away toward the constellation of the Swan (Cygnus). Tomorrow’s picture: meteor…