IIZw096: 合并中的星系对

IIZw096: 合并中的星系对

2022年12月2日 Merging Galaxy Pair IIZw096 Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, L. Armus, A. Evans Explanation: Bright at infrared wavelengths, this merging galaxy pair is some 500 million light-years away toward the constellation Delphinus. The cosmic mashup is seen against a background of even more distant galaxies, and occasional spiky foreground stars. But the galaxy merger itself spans about 100,000 light-years in this deep James Webb Space Telescope image. The image data is from Webb’s Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI). Their combined, sharp infrared view follows galactic scale restructuring in the dusty merger’s wild jumble of intense star forming regions and distorted spiral arms Tomorrow’s picture: Stereo Saturday IIZw096: 合并中的星系对 图像提供: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, L. Armus, A. Evans 说明: 这对在海豚座方向约5亿光年远处的合并中星系,是红外光波段很明亮的天体。这个“宇宙混搭”景观,以更遥远的背景星系为衬托,偶而也有带芒的前景恒星来凑热闹。这幅韦伯太空望远镜深空图像所呈现的合并星系对,其跨幅约为100,000光年。组成这幅图像的数据来自韦伯的近红外相机(NIRCam)及中红外成像分光仪(MIRI)。这幅韦伯的整合红外光图像,清晰的呈现这个尘土飞扬的星系级重组事件,及其所造就的狂暴恒星形成区及扭曲螺旋臂。 明日的图片: Stereo…

L1527的原恒星

L1527的原恒星

2022年11月18日 The Protostar within L1527 Image Credit: Science – NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, NIRCam Processing – Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI) Explanation: The protostar within dark cloud L1527 is a mere 100,000 years old, still embedded in the cloud of gas and dust that feeds its growth. In this NIRCam image from the James Webb Space Telescope, the dark band at the neck of the infrared nebula is a thick disk that surrounds the young stellar object. Viewed nearly edge-on and a little larger than our Solar System, the disk ultimately supplies material to the protostar while hiding it from Webb’s direct infrared view. The nebula itself is seen in stunning detail though. Illuminated by infrared light from the protostar,…

卡西尼号的红外光土星

卡西尼号的红外光土星

2022年7月24日 Saturn in Infrared from Cassini Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, SSI; Processing: Maksim Kakitsev Explanation: Many details of Saturn appear clearly in infrared light. Bands of clouds show great structure, including long stretching storms. Also quite striking in infrared is the unusual hexagonal cloud pattern surrounding Saturn’s North Pole. Each side of the dark hexagon spans roughly the width of our Earth. The hexagon’s existence was not predicted, and its origin and likely stability remains a topic of research. Saturn’s famous rings circle the planet and cast shadows below the equator. The featured image was taken by the robotic Cassini spacecraft in 2014 in several infrared colors. In 2017 September, the Cassini mission was brought to a dramatic conclusion when the spacecraft was directed to…

仙女座星系过去与未来的恒星

仙女座星系过去与未来的恒星

2022年5月23日 The Once and Future Stars of Andromeda Image Credit: NASA, NSF, NOAJ, Hubble, Subaru, Mayall, DSS, Spitzer; Processing & Copyright: Robert Gendler & Russell Croman Explanation: This picture of Andromeda shows not only where stars are now, but where stars will soon be. Of course, the big, beautiful Andromeda Galaxy, M31, is a spiral galaxy — and a mere 2.5 million light-years away. Both space-based and ground-based observatories have been here combined to produce this intriguing composite image of Andromeda, at wavelengths both inside and outside normally visible light. The visible light shows where M31’s stars are now — as highlighted in white and blue hues and imaged by the Hubble, Subaru, and Mayall telescopes. The infrared light shows where M31’s future stars will…

年轻恒星MHO 2147的喷流

年轻恒星MHO 2147的喷流

2022年1月21日 Young Star Jet MHO 2147 Image Credit & License: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA Acknowledgments: L. Ferrero (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba) Explanation: Laser guide stars and adaptive optics sharpened this stunning ground-based image of stellar jets from the Gemini South Observatory, Chilean Andes, planet Earth. These twin outflows of MHO 2147 are from a young star in formation. It lies toward the central Milky Way and the boundary of the constellations Sagittarius and Ophiuchus at an estimated distance of some 10,000 light-years. At center, the star itself is obscured by a dense region of cold dust. But the infrared image still traces the sinuous jets across a frame that would span about 5 light-years at the system’s estimated distance. Driven…

NGC 281:移除恒星后再叠合恒星

NGC 281:移除恒星后再叠合恒星

2021年11月19日 NGC 281: Starless with Stars Image Credit & Copyright: Wido Oerlemans – X-ray: Chandra, Infrared: Spitzer Explanation: In visible light the stars have been removed from this narrow-band image of NGC 281, a star forming region some 10,000 light-years away toward the constellation Cassiopeia. Stars were digitally added back to the resulting starless image though. But instead of using visible light image data, the stars were added with X-ray data (in purple) from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and infrared data (in red) from the Spitzer Space Telescope. The merged multiwavelength view reveals a multitude of stars in the region’s embedded star cluster IC 1590. The young stars are normally hidden in visible light images by the natal cloud’s gas and obscuring dust. Also known…

穿过红外光波段的猎户大星云

穿过红外光波段的猎户大星云

2021年07月07日 Flight Through the Orion Nebula in Infrared Light Video Credit: NASA, Spitzer Space Telescope, Universe of Learning; Visualization: F. Summers (STScI) et al.; Music & License: Serenade for Strings (A. Dvořák), Advent Chamber Orch. Explanation: What would it look like to fly into the Orion Nebula? The exciting dynamic visualization of the Orion Nebula is based on real astronomical data and adept movie rendering techniques. Up close and personal with a famous stellar nursery normally seen from 1,500 light-years away, the digitally modeled representation based is based on infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope. The perspective moves along a valley over a light-year wide, in the wall of the region’s giant molecular cloud. Orion’s valley ends in a cavity carved by the energetic…

红外光波段的银河中心

红外光波段的银河中心

2021年04月19日 The Galactic Center in Infrared Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Spitzer Space Telescope, Susan Stolovy (SSC/Caltech) et al.; Reprocessing: Judy Schmidt Explanation: What does the center of our galaxy look like? In visible light, the Milky Way’s center is hidden by clouds of obscuring dust and gas. But in this stunning vista, the Spitzer Space Telescope’s infrared cameras, penetrate much of the dust revealing the stars of the crowded galactic center region. A mosaic of many smaller snapshots, the detailed, false-color image shows older, cool stars in bluish hues. Red and brown glowing dust clouds are associated with young, hot stars in stellar nurseries. The very center of the Milky Way has recently been found capable of forming newborn stars. The galactic center lies some…

火焰星云之内

火焰星云之内

2021年04月17日 Inside the Flame Nebula Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, IPAC Infrared Science Archive – Processing: Amal Biju Explanation: The Flame Nebula is a stand out in optical images of the dusty, crowded star forming regions toward Orion’s belt and the easternmost belt star Alnitak, a mere 1,400 light-years away. Alnitak is the bright star at the right edge of this infrared image from the Spitzer Space Telescope. About 15 light-years across, the infrared view takes you inside the nebula’s glowing gas and obscuring dust clouds though. It reveals many stars of the recently formed, embedded cluster NGC 2024 concentrated near the center. The stars of NGC 2024 range in age from 200,000 years to 1.5 million years young. In fact, data indicate that the youngest…

礁湖星云中心区的红外光影像

礁湖星云中心区的红外光影像

2021年03月19日 Central Lagoon in Infrared Image Credit & License: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Data Archive: MAST, Processing: Alexandra Nachman Explanation: Stars fill this infrared view, spanning 4 light-years across the center of the Lagoon Nebula. Visible light images show the glowing gas and obscuring dust clouds that dominate the scene. But this infrared image, constructed from Hubble Space Telescope data, peers closer to the heart of the active star-forming region revealing newborn stars scattered within, against a crowded field of background stars toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy. This tumultuous stellar nursery’s central regions are sculpted and energized by the massive, young Herschel 36, seen as the bright star near center in the field of view. Herschel 36 is actually a multiple system of…