暗饰带星云

暗饰带星云

A busy starfield is shown which an elongated brown nebula running diagonally from the lower left to the upper right. A bright blue star and a star cluster appear above the nebula. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.
画面中是一片繁忙的星空,一团细长的棕色星云从左下角斜向右上方。星云上方出现一颗明亮的蓝色恒星和一个星团。有关更多详细信息,请参阅说明。

球状星团杜鹃47

球状星团杜鹃47

2024年2月8日 Globular Star Cluster 47 Tuc Image Credit & Copyright: Marco Lorenzi, Angus Lau, Tommy Tse Explanation: Globular star cluster 47 Tucanae is a jewel of the southern sky. Also known as NGC 104, it roams the halo of our Milky Way Galaxy along with some 200 other globular star clusters. The second brightest globular cluster (after Omega Centauri) as seen from planet Earth, 47 Tuc lies about 13,000 light-years away. It can be spotted with the naked-eye close on the sky to the Small Magellanic Cloud in the constellation of the Toucan. The dense cluster is made up of hundreds of thousands of stars in a volume only about 120 light-years across. Red giant stars on the outskirts of the cluster are easy to…

NGC 1893与IC 410的蝌蚪

NGC 1893与IC 410的蝌蚪

2024年2月2日 NGC 1893 and the Tadpoles of IC 410 Image Credit & Copyright: Sander de Jong Explanation: This cosmic view shows off an otherwise faint emission nebula IC 410, captured under clear Netherlands skies with telescope and narrowband filters. Above and right of center you can spot two remarkable inhabitants of the interstellar pond of gas and dust, known as 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. Globules composed of denser cooler gas and dust, the tadpoles are around 10 light-years long and are likely sites of ongoing star…

武仙大球状星团

武仙大球状星团

2023年9月1日 The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules Image Credit & Copyright: Serge Brunier, Jean-François Bax, David Vernet OCA/C2PU Explanation: In 1716, English astronomer Edmond Halley noted, “This is but a little Patch, but it shows itself to the naked Eye, when the Sky is serene and the Moon absent.” Of course, M13 is now less modestly recognized as the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, one of the brightest globular star clusters in the northern sky. Sharp telescopic views like this one reveal the spectacular cluster’s hundreds of thousands of stars. At a distance of 25,000 light-years, the cluster stars crowd into a region 150 light-years in diameter. Approaching the cluster core, upwards of 100 stars could be contained in a cube just 3 light-years on…