哈勃望远镜观测了波江座的迷人星系
NGC 685占据了舞台的中心位置，在墨黑的背景上闪烁着微弱的恒星。这个星系显然是一个棒旋星系，它有明亮的中心棒和斑驳弯曲的旋臂。它距离我们大约5,800万光年，位于波江座。NGC 685位于天赤道以南，在一年中的某些时候从南半球可以看到。
哈勃望远镜最近发布的韦伯图像的多波长视图
这张NASA哈勃太空望远镜的新照片的前景是几片亮粉色和几缕暗红色。NGC 5068是一个棒旋星系，有数千个恒星形成区域和大量星际尘埃。
Arp 142：蜂鸟星系
2023年9月25日 Arp 142: The Hummingbird Galaxy Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Processing & Copyright: Basudeb Chakrabarti Explanation: What’s happening to this spiral galaxy? Just a few hundred million years ago, NGC 2936, the upper of the two large galaxies shown at the bottom, was likely a normal spiral galaxy — spinning, creating stars — and minding its own business. But then it got too close to the massive elliptical galaxy NGC 2937, just below, and took a turn. Sometimes dubbed the Hummingbird Galaxy for its iconic shape, NGC 2936 is not only being deflected but also being distorted by the close gravitational interaction. Behind filaments of dark interstellar dust, bright blue stars form the nose of the hummingbird, while the center of the spiral…
NGC 7331及其后方的天体
2023年9月14日 NGC 7331 and Beyond Image Credit & Copyright: Ian Gorenstein Explanation: Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 7331 is often touted as an analog to our own Milky Way. About 50 million light-years distant in the northern constellation Pegasus, NGC 7331 was recognized early on as a spiral nebula and is actually one of the brighter galaxies not included in Charles Messier’s famous 18th century catalog. Since the galaxy’s disk is inclined to our line-of-sight, long telescopic exposures often result in images that evokes a strong sense of depth. The effect is further enhanced in this sharp image by galaxies that lie beyond the gorgeous island universe. The most prominent background galaxies are about one tenth the apparent size of NGC 7331 and so lie…
韦伯影像: 不寻常的螺旋星系M66
2023年8月29日 Unusual Spiral Galaxy M66 from Webb Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, JWST; Processing: Brian Tomlinson Explanation: Why isn’t spiral galaxy M66 symmetric? Usually, density waves of gas, dust, and newly formed stars circle a spiral galaxy‘s center and create a nearly symmetric galaxy. The differences between M66’s spiral arms and the apparent displacement of its nucleus are all likely caused by previous close interactions and the tidal gravitational pulls of nearby galaxy neighbors M65 and NGC 3628. The galaxy, featured here in infrared light taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, spans about 100,000 light years, lies about 35 million light years distant, and is the largest galaxy in a group known as the Leo Triplet. Like many spiral galaxies, the long and intricate…
255小时长曝光下的M51
2023年8月11日 Messier 51 in 255 Hours Image Credit & Copyright: The Deep Sky Collective – Carl Björk, Thomas Bähnck, Sebastian Donoso, Jake Gentillon, Antoine and Dalia Grelin, Stephen Guberski, Richard Hall, Tino Heuberger, Jason Jacks, Paul Kent, Brian Meyers, William Ostling, Nicolas Puig, Tim Schaeffer, Felix Schöfbänker, Mikhail Vasilev Explanation: An intriguing pair of interacting galaxies, M51 is the 51st entry in Charles Messier’s famous catalog. Perhaps the original spiral nebula, the large galaxy with whirlpool-like spiral structure seen nearly face-on is also cataloged as NGC 5194. Its spiral arms and dust lanes sweep in front of a companion galaxy (right), NGC 5195. Some 31 million light-years distant, within the boundaries of the well-trained constellation Canes Venatici, M51 looks faint and fuzzy to the eye…
M64：黑眼星系特写
2023年7月20日 M64: The Black Eye Galaxy Close Up Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Processing: Jonathan Lodge Explanation: This magnificent spiral galaxy is Messier 64, often called the Black Eye Galaxy or the Sleeping Beauty Galaxy for its dark-lidded appearance in telescopic views. The spiral’s central region, about 7,400 light-years across, is pictured in this reprocessed image from the Hubble Space Telescope. M64 lies some 17 million light-years distant in the otherwise well-groomed northern constellation Coma Berenices. The enormous dust clouds partially obscuring M64’s central region are laced with young, blue star clusters and the reddish glow of hydrogen associated with star forming regions. But imposing clouds of dust are not this galaxy’s only peculiar feature. Observations show that M64 is actually composed of two…
螺旋星系NGC 1398的环与棒
2023年7月12日 Rings and Bar of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1398 Image Credit: Mark Hanson; Data: Mike Selby Explanation: Why do some spiral galaxies have a ring around the center? Spiral galaxy NGC 1398 not only has a ring of pearly stars, gas and dust around its center, but a bar of stars and gas across its center, and spiral arms that appear like ribbons farther out. The featured deep image from Observatorio El Sauce in Chile shows the grand spiral galaxy in impressive detail. NGC 1398 lies about 65 million light years distant, meaning the light we see today left this galaxy when dinosaurs were disappearing from the Earth. The photogenic galaxy is visible with a small telescope toward the constellation of the Furnace (Fornax). The…
M94: 双环星系
2023年6月7日 M94: A Double Ring Galaxy Image Credit & Copyright: Brian Brennan Explanation: Most galaxies don’t have any rings of stars and gas — why does M94 have two? First, spiral galaxy M94 has an inner ring of newly formed stars surrounding its nucleus, giving it not only an unusual appearance but also a strong interior glow. A leading origin hypothesis holds that an elongated knot of stars known as a bar rotates in M94 and has generated a burst of star formation in this inner ring. Observations have also revealed another ring, an outer ring, one that is more faint, different in color, not closed, and relatively complex. What caused this outer ring is currently unknown. M94, pictured here, spans about 45,000 light years…
M101
2023年6月2日 Messier 101 Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CFHT, NOAO; Acknowledgement – K.Kuntz (GSFC), F.Bresolin (U.Hawaii), J.Trauger (JPL), J.Mould (NOAO), Y.-H.Chu (U. Illinois) Explanation: Big, beautiful spiral galaxy M101 is one of the last entries in Charles Messier’s famous catalog, but definitely not one of the least. About 170,000 light-years across, this galaxy is enormous, almost twice the size of our own Milky Way. M101 was also one of the original spiral nebulae observed by Lord Rosse’s large 19th century telescope, the Leviathan of Parsontown. Assembled from 51 exposures recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope in the 20th and 21st centuries, with additional data from ground based telescopes, this mosaic spans about 40,000 light-years across the central region of M101 in one of the highest definition…