Astronomy Picture of the Day
探索宇宙! 每天发布一张有专业天文学家的简短解释和说明的反映我们迷人宇宙的不同影像或照片。
2006年04月21日（农历二〇〇六年三月二十四）
http://www.bjp.org.cn/files/2006 ... ngc253_gabany_f.jpg
NGC253：尘埃岛宇宙
版权及影像提供：R. Jay GaBany (Cosmotography.com)
Explanation: Shiny NGC 253, sometimes called the Silver Dollar Galaxy, is one of the brightest spiral galaxies visible - and also one of the dustiest. First swept up in 1783 by mathematician and astronomer Caroline Herschel, the dusty island universe lies a mere 10 million light-years away in the southern constellation Sculptor. About 70 thousand light-years across, NGC 253 is the largest member of the Sculptor Group of Galaxies, the nearest to our own Local Group of Galaxies. In addition to its spiral dust lanes, striking tendrils of dust seem to be rising from the galactic disk in this gorgeous view. The high dust content accompanies frantic star formation, giving NGC 253 the designation of a starburst galaxy. NGC 253 is also known to be a strong source of high-energy x-rays and gamma rays, likely due to massive black holes near the galaxy's center.
明亮的NGC 253，有时候也叫银币星系，是最明亮的可见旋涡星系之一，也是最多尘埃的星系之一.在1783年首先被数学家和天文学家卡洛琳赫歇耳发现,尘埃岛宇宙位于仅仅1000万光年之外的南方星座—玉夫座.直径大约7万光年的NGC 253是玉夫座星系群中最大的成员，而且它是距离我们本星系群最近的星系群.特别是他那螺旋状的尘埃带,在这幅华丽的照片里,引人注目的卷须状物就象从星系的盘面上升起一样. 星系中充满尘埃的地方伴随着高恒星形成率，NGC253被归类为星暴星系。NGC253还是高能X射线和伽玛射线的发射源, 这很可能归咎于有大质量的黑洞在星系中心的附近.
Tomorrow's picture: MarZ
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