心宿二附近的恒星、尘埃和气体
(原标题: Stars, Dust, and Gas Near Antares)
2022-01-26
浏览次数: 24
为什么心宿二和蛇夫座附近的天空尘土飞扬却色彩斑斓？这些颜色是物体和过程混合的结果。细尘——被星光从正面照射——产生蓝色反射星云。原子被紫外光激发的气体云产生红色的发射星云。背光的尘埃云阻挡了星光，所以看起来很暗。心宿二是一颗红色超巨星，也是夜空中较亮的恒星之一，它照亮了特色图像右下方的黄红色云层。蛇夫座星系位于左上方蓝色反射星云的中心。遥远的球状星团M4在心宿二的上方和右侧可见。这些恒星云比人类所能看到的还要丰富多彩，它们通过电磁波谱发射光线。
查看原文解释
Why is the sky near Antares and Rho Ophiuchi so dusty yet colorful? The colors result from a mixture of objects and processes. Fine dust -- illuminated from the front by starlight -- produces blue reflection nebulae. Gaseous clouds whose atoms are excited by ultraviolet starlight produce reddish emission nebulae. Backlit dust clouds block starlight and so appear dark. Antares, a red supergiant and one of the brighter stars in the night sky, lights up the yellow-red clouds on the lower right of the featured image. The Rho Ophiuchi star system lies at the center of the blue reflection nebula on the top left. The distant globular cluster of stars M4 is visible above and to the right of Antares. These star clouds are even more colorful than humans can see, emitting light across the electromagnetic spectrum.
© Mario Cogo (Galax Lux)