船底座星云北
(原标题: Carina Nebula North)
2022-01-31
浏览次数: 16
船底座大星云是奇怪的恒星和标志性星云的家园。这个巨大的恒星形成区以其所在的星座命名，比猎户座大星云更大、更亮，但不太为人所知，因为它位于遥远的南方，而且人类大部分生活在遥远的北方。这张特色图片非常详细地展示了船底座星云最北部的部分。可见的星云包括最左边环绕着活跃恒星沃尔夫-拉叶23 （WR23）的半圆形丝状物。中间偏左的是加布里埃拉·米斯特拉尔星云，它由一个发光的气体发射星云（IC 2599）组成，围绕着一个小型疏散星团（NGC 3324）。图像中心上方是较大的星团NGC 3293，而它的右侧是相对暗淡的发射星云，被命名为Loden 153。然而，船底座星云最著名的居住者并没有显示出来。在图片的右下角是一颗明亮的、不稳定的、注定要失败的恒星，被称为船底座埃塔——这颗恒星曾经是天空中最亮的恒星之一，现在预计在未来几百万年的某个时候会以超新星的形式爆炸。
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The Great Carina Nebula is home to strange stars and iconic nebulas. Named for its home constellation, the huge star-forming region is larger and brighter than the Great Orion Nebula but less well known because it is so far south -- and because so much of humanity lives so far north. The featured image shows in great detail the northern-most part of the Carina Nebula. Visible nebulas include the semi-circular filaments surrounding the active star Wolf-Rayet 23 (WR23) on the far left. Just left of center is the Gabriela Mistral Nebula consisting of an emission nebula of glowing gas (IC 2599) surrounding the small open cluster of stars (NGC 3324). Above the image center is the larger star cluster NGC 3293, while to its right is the relatively faint emission nebula designated Loden 153. The most famous occupant of the Carina Nebula, however, is not shown. Off the image to the lower right is the bright, erratic, and doomed star star known as Eta Carinae -- a star once one of the brightest stars in the sky and now predicted to explode in a supernova sometime in the next few million years.
© Roberto Colombari