NGC 3628的肖像
(原标题: Portrait of NGC 3628)
2023-04-14
浏览次数: 16
通过望远镜对NGC 3628的清晰观察，我们可以看到一个由黑暗尘埃带分隔的膨胀星系盘。当然，这幅壮丽的边缘螺旋星系的肖像让一些天文学家想起了它的流行绰号——汉堡星系。它还显示了附近的一个小星系（下图），可能是NGC 3628的卫星，以及一个非常微弱但广泛的潮汐尾巴。这条拉长的尾巴延伸了大约30万光年，甚至超出了画面的左边缘。NGC 3628与另外两个大的螺旋星系M65和M66共享它在本地宇宙中的邻居，它们也被称为狮子座三胞胎。它与宇宙邻居的引力相互作用很可能是产生潮汐尾的原因，以及这个螺旋盘的扩展耀斑和翘曲。这个诱人的岛屿宇宙本身大约有10万光年宽，距离北方春天的狮子座3500万光年。
查看原文解释
Sharp telescopic views of NGC 3628 show a puffy galactic disk divided by dark dust lanes. Of course, this portrait of the magnificent, edge-on spiral galaxy puts some astronomers in mind of its popular moniker, the Hamburger Galaxy. It also reveals a small galaxy nearby (below), likely a satellite of NGC 3628, and a very faint but extensive tidal tail. The drawn out tail stretches for about 300,000 light-years, even beyond the left edge of the frame. NGC 3628 shares its neighborhood in the local universe with two other large spirals M65 and M66 in a grouping otherwise known as the Leo Triplet. Gravitational interactions with its cosmic neighbors are likely responsible for creating the tidal tail, as well as the extended flare and warp of this spiral's disk. The tantalizing island universe itself is about 100,000 light-years across and 35 million light-years away in the northern springtime constellation Leo.
© Mike Selby