NGC 3521：气泡中的星系
(原标题: NGC 3521: Galaxy in a Bubble)
2022-05-05
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美丽的螺旋星系NGC 3521距离我们只有3500万光年，正对着春天的北方狮子座。NGC 3521在地球的天空中相对明亮，在小型望远镜中很容易看到，但经常被业余成像仪所忽视，因为喜欢其他狮子座螺旋星系，如M66和M65。然而，在这幅多彩的宇宙肖像中，很难忽视它。这个星系的跨度约为5万光年，其特征是不规则的螺旋臂上点缀着尘埃、粉红色的恒星形成区域和年轻的蓝色恒星群。这张深度图像还发现NGC 3521嵌入在更暗的、巨大的、泡沫状的壳中。这些贝壳很可能是潮汐碎片，是在遥远的过去与NGC 3521合并的卫星星系撕裂的恒星流。
查看原文解释
Gorgeous spiral galaxy NGC 3521 is a mere 35 million light-years away, toward the northern springtime constellation Leo. Relatively bright in planet Earth's sky, NGC 3521 is easily visible in small telescopes but often overlooked by amateur imagers in favor of other Leo spiral galaxies, like M66 and M65. It's hard to overlook in this colorful cosmic portrait though. Spanning some 50,000 light-years the galaxy sports characteristic patchy, irregular spiral arms laced with dust, pink star forming regions, and clusters of young, blue stars. This deep image also finds NGC 3521 embedded in fainter, gigantic, bubble-like shells. The shells are likely tidal debris, streams of stars torn from satellite galaxies that have undergone mergers with NGC 3521 in the distant past.
© Mark Hanson