邻近的螺旋星系NGC 4945

邻近的螺旋星系NGC 4945

ByNASA中文

2022年2月26日 Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 4945 Image Credit & Copyright: Dietmar Hager, Eric Benson Explanation: Large spiral galaxy NGC 4945 is seen nearly edge-on in this cosmic galaxy close-up. It’s almost the size of our Milky Way Galaxy. NGC 4945’s own dusty disk, young blue star clusters, and pink star forming regions stand out in the colorful telescopic frame. About 13 million light-years distant toward the expansive southern constellation Centaurus, NGC 4945 is only about six times farther away than Andromeda, the nearest large spiral galaxy to the Milky Way. Though this galaxy’s central region is largely hidden from view for optical telescopes, X-ray and infrared observations indicate significant high energy emission and star formation in the core of NGC 4945. Its obscured but active…

棒旋星系NGC 6217

棒旋星系NGC 6217

ByNASA中文

2022年2月21日 Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 6217 Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team Explanation: Many spiral galaxies have bars across their centers. Even our own Milky Way Galaxy is thought to have a modest central bar. Prominently barred spiral galaxy NGC 6217, featured here, was captured in spectacular detail in this image taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope in 2009. Visible are dark filamentary dust lanes, young clusters of bright blue stars, red emission nebulas of glowing hydrogen gas, a long bar of stars across the center, and a bright active nucleus that likely houses a supermassive black hole. Light takes about 60 million years to reach us from NGC 6217, which spans about 30,000…

M31：仙女座星系

M31：仙女座星系

ByNASA中文

2022年1月19日 M31: The Andromeda Galaxy Image Credit: Subaru (NAOJ), Hubble (NASA/ESA), Mayall (NSF); Processing & Copyright: R. Gendler & R. Croman Explanation: The most distant object easily visible to the unaided eye is M31, the great Andromeda Galaxy. Even at some two and a half million light-years distant, this immense spiral galaxy — spanning over 200,000 light years — is visible, although as a faint, nebulous cloud in the constellation Andromeda. In contrast, a bright yellow nucleus, dark winding dust lanes, and expansive spiral arms dotted with blue star clusters and red nebulae, are recorded in this stunning telescopic image which combines data from orbiting Hubble with ground-based images from Subaru and Mayall. In only about 5 billion years, the Andromeda galaxy may be even…

NGC 289：南天的涡漩

NGC 289：南天的涡漩

ByNASA中文

2021年10月15日 NGC 289: Swirl in the Southern Sky Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby Explanation: About 70 million light-years distant, gorgeous spiral galaxy NGC 289 is larger than our own Milky Way. Seen nearly face-on, its bright core and colorful central disk give way to remarkably faint, bluish spiral arms. The extensive arms sweep well over 100 thousand light-years from the galaxy’s center. At the lower right in this sharp, telescopic galaxy portrait the main spiral arm seems to encounter a small, fuzzy elliptical companion galaxy interacting with enormous NGC 289. Of course spiky stars are in the foreground of the scene. They lie within the Milky Way toward the southern constellation Sculptor. Tomorrow’s picture: Pixel in Space NGC 289：南天的涡漩 影像提供与版权: Mike Selby 说明: 在大约7千万光年远处的壮丽螺旋星系NGC…

UGC 1810： 狂乱互扰星系的哈勃望远镜影像

UGC 1810： 狂乱互扰星系的哈勃望远镜影像

ByNASA中文

2020年10月18日 UGC 1810: Wildly Interacting Galaxy from Hubble Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Processing & Copyright: Domingo Pestana Explanation: What’s happening to this spiral galaxy? Although details remain uncertain, it surely has to do with an ongoing battle with its smaller galactic neighbor. The featured galaxy is labelled UGC 1810 by itself, but together with its collisional partner is known as Arp 273. The overall shape of UGC 1810 — in particular its blue outer ring — is likely a result of wild and violent gravitational interactions. This ring’s blue color is caused by massive stars that are blue hot and have formed only in the past few million years. The inner galaxy appears older, redder, and threaded with cool filamentary dust. A few…

NGC 6814：哈勃望远镜的宏伟螺旋星系

NGC 6814：哈勃望远镜的宏伟螺旋星系

ByNASA中文

2020年8月16日 NGC 6814: Grand Design Spiral Galaxy from Hubble Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA; Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt Explanation: In the center of this serene stellar swirl is likely a harrowing black-hole beast. The surrounding swirl sweeps around billions of stars which are highlighted by the brightest and bluest. The breadth and beauty of the display give the swirl the designation of a grand design spiral galaxy. The central beast shows evidence that it is a supermassive black hole about 10 million times the mass of our Sun. This ferocious creature devours stars and gas and is surrounded by a spinning moat of hot plasma that emits blasts of X-rays. The central violent activity gives it the designation of a Seyfert galaxy. Together, this beauty and…

NGC 3628

NGC 3628

ByNASA中文

2020 June 4 Portrait of NGC 3628 Image Credit & Copyright: Stefano Cancelli (1963-2020), Paul Mortfield Explanation: Sharp telescopic views of NGC 3628 show a puffy galactic disk divided by dark dust lanes. Of course, this deep portrait of the magnificent, edge-on spiral galaxy puts some astronomers in mind of its popular moniker, the Hamburger Galaxy. It also reveals a small galaxy nearby, likely a satellite of NGC 3628, and a faint but extensive tidal tail. The drawn out tail stretches for about 300,000 light-years, even beyond the right edge of the wide frame. NGC 3628 shares its neighborhood in the local universe with two other large spirals M65 and M66 in a grouping otherwise known as the Leo Triplet. Gravitational interactions with its cosmic…

旋涡星系NGC 6744

旋涡星系NGC 6744

ByNASA中文

2019 December 5 Spiral Galaxy NGC 6744 Image Credit & Copyright: Zhuokai Liu, Jiang Yuhang Explanation: Beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 6744 is nearly 175,000 light-years across, larger than our own Milky Way. It lies some 30 million light-years distant in the southern constellation Pavo and appears as only a faint, extended object in small telescopes. We see the disk of the nearby island universe tilted towards our line of sight in this remarkably detailed galaxy portrait, a telescopic view that spans an area about the angular size of a full moon. In it, the giant galaxy’s elongated yellowish core is dominated by the light from old, cool stars. Beyond the core, grand spiral arms are filled with young blue star clusters and speckled with pinkish…

哈伯望远镜拍摄的星暴星系M94

哈伯望远镜拍摄的星暴星系M94

ByNASA中文

2019 December 1 Starburst Galaxy M94 from Hubble Image Credit & Copyright: ESA/Hubble & NASA Explanation: Why does this galaxy have a ring of bright blue stars? Beautiful island universe Messier 94 lies a mere 15 million light-years distant in the northern constellation of the Hunting Dogs (Canes Venatici). A popular target for Earth-based astronomers, the face-on spiral galaxy is about 30,000 light-years across, with spiral arms sweeping through the outskirts of its broad disk. But this Hubble Space Telescope field of view spans about 7,000 light-years across M94’s central region. The featured close-up highlights the galaxy’s compact, bright nucleus, prominent inner dust lanes, and the remarkable bluish ring of young massive stars. The ring stars are all likely less than 10 million years old,…

Arp 273：哈勃望远镜拍摄的星系大战

Arp 273：哈勃望远镜拍摄的星系大战

ByNASA中文

2019 November 20 Arp 273: Battling Galaxies from Hubble Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Copyright: Rudy Pohl Explanation: What’s happening to these spiral galaxies? Although details remain uncertain, there sure seems to be a titanic battle going on. The upper galaxy is labelled UGC 1810 by itself, but together with its collisional partners is known as Arp 273. The overall shape of the UGC 1810 — in particular its blue outer ring — is likely a result of wild and violent gravitational interactions. The blue color of the outer ring at the top is caused by massive stars that are blue hot and have formed only in the past few million years. The inner part of the upper galaxy — itself an older…