金牛座的暗星云和恒星形成
(原标题: Dark Nebulae and Star Formation in Taurus)
2023-03-21
浏览次数: 15
灰尘会是美丽的吗？是的，它也可以是有用的。金牛座分子云有几颗明亮的恒星，但真正吸引人们注意的是黑暗的尘埃。无处不在的尘埃有波浪和涟漪，形成了风景如画的尘埃兔子，但也许更重要的是，它标志着星际气体密度足够大，可以通过引力收缩形成恒星的区域。在图像中心是一个被邻近恒星照亮的轻云，它不仅是一个著名星云的家，也是一个非常年轻的大质量著名恒星的家。这颗恒星，金牛座T和星云，Hind's可变星云，在亮度上都有很大的变化，但不一定是在同一时间，这增加了这个迷人区域的神秘感。金牛座T和类似的恒星现在被普遍认为是类似太阳的恒星，它们的年龄不到几百万年，因此仍处于形成的早期阶段。这张特色图像距离昴宿星团不远，跨度约为4度，而特色尘埃区距离约400光年。
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Can dust be beautiful? Yes, and it can also be useful. The Taurus molecular cloud has several bright stars, but it is the dark dust that really draws attention. The pervasive dust has waves and ripples and makes picturesque dust bunnies, but perhaps more importantly, it marks regions where interstellar gas is dense enough to gravitationally contract to form stars. In the image center is a light cloud lit by neighboring stars that is home not only to a famous nebula, but to a very young and massive famous star. Both the star, T Tauri, and the nebula, Hind's Variable Nebula, are seen to vary dramatically in brightness -- but not necessarily at the same time, adding to the mystery of this intriguing region. T Tauri and similar stars are now generally recognized to be Sun-like stars that are less than a few million years old and so still in the early stages of formation. The featured image spans about four degrees not far from the Pleiades star cluster, while the featured dust field lies about 400 light-years away.
© Vikas Chander