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转自牧夫:http://www.astronomy.com.cn/bbs/thread-67126-1-1.html
(点击图片放大观看,震撼!)
In celebration of the 17th anniversary of the launch and deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers is released one of the largest panoramic images ever taken with Hubble's cameras -- a 50-light-year-wide view of the central region of the Carina Nebula where a maelstrom of star birth is taking place.
为庆祝“哈勃”空间望远镜发射及部署17周年,一组天文学家发布了“哈勃”曾拍摄的最大的一幅全景图——船底座星云中心跨越50光年的一片大规模恒星诞生处。
该图片是由“哈勃”空间望远镜的高级巡天相机拍摄的48幅拼接而成。“哈勃”图像采自中性氢的光。加入的色彩信息来自智利的塞洛托洛洛中美洲天文台。红色对应硫,绿色是氢,蓝色是氧发出的。
感谢:NASA, ESA, N. Smith (University of California, Berkeley), and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
The fantasy-like landscape of the nebula is sculpted by the action of outflowing winds and scorching ultraviolet radiation from the monster stars that inhabit this inferno. In the process, these stars are shredding the surrounding material that is the last vestige of the giant cloud from which the stars were born.
这犹如梦幻般的景象是来自栖身于这片地狱的巨星涌出的星风和炽热的紫外线辐射所雕刻出。在这一过程中,这些恒星撕扯着在其诞生处周围剩余的星云物质。
Hubble's view of the nebula shows star birth in a new level of detail. The immense nebula contains at least a dozen brilliant stars that are roughly estimated to be at least 50 to 100 times the mass of our Sun.
“哈勃”对该星云的观察将恒星的诞生细节提到了新的水平。这片巨大的星云包含了至少十几个明亮的恒星,粗略估计它们的质量都至少是50-100倍太阳质量。
The most unique and opulent inhabitant is the star Eta Carinae, at far left. Eta Carinae is in the final stages of its brief and eruptive lifespan, as evidenced by two billowing lobes of gas and dust that presage its upcoming explosion as a titanic supernova.
最特别、最华丽的居民就是船底座 Eta 星,靠近左边。船底座 Eta 处在其短暂而爆发性生命的末期,,正如两处翻滚的气体和尘埃圆形凸起所预示它即将爆发成为超新星。
The fireworks in the Carina region started three million years ago when the nebula's first generation of newborn stars condensed and ignited in the middle of a huge cloud of cold molecular hydrogen. Radiation from these stars carved out an expanding bubble of hot gas. The island-like clumps of dark clouds scattered across the nebula are nodules of dust and gas that are resisting being eaten away by photoionization.
船底座区域中的焰火起始于300万年前星云首批诞生的新生恒星在一片寒冷巨大的氢分子云中受压缩并被点燃。从这些恒星发出的辐射雕刻出了一个膨胀的热汽泡。散布在星云中孤岛样的块状冷云是正在经受光电离吞噬的气体和尘埃节。
The hurricane blast of stellar winds and blistering ultraviolet radiation within the cavity is now compressing the surrounding walls of cold hydrogen. This is triggering a second stage of new star formation.
空穴中星风的击波和炽热的紫外线辐射正在压缩周围冷氢气形成的墙。由此触发了第二阶段新恒星的形成。
Our Sun and our solar system may have been born inside such a cosmic crucible 4.6 billion years ago. In looking at the Carina Nebula we are seeing the genesis of star making as it commonly occurs along the dense spiral arms of a galaxy.
我们的太阳和太阳系或许就是46亿年前在这样的宇宙熔炉中诞生的。通过对船底座星云的观察,我们看到了通常沿银河密集的旋臂所诞生恒星的起源。
The immense nebula is an estimated 7,500 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina the Keel (of the old southern constellation Argo Navis, the ship of Jason and the Argonauts, from Greek mythology).
这片巨大的星云位于南天星座船底座的龙骨处,估计距离7500光年。
[ 本帖最后由 夜猫子 于 2007-5-23 21:20 编辑 ] |
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