髓质星云超新星遗迹
(原标题: The Medulla Nebula Supernova Remnant)
2023-04-24
浏览次数: 18
这个不寻常星云的动力是什么？CTB-1是大约1万年前仙后座附近的一颗大质量恒星爆炸时留下的膨胀的气体壳。这颗恒星可能是在其核心附近的元素耗尽时引爆的，而这些元素可以通过核聚变产生稳定的压力。由此产生的超新星遗迹，因其类似大脑的形状而被称为髓质星云，由于与星际气体碰撞产生的热量，它仍然在可见光下发光。然而，为什么星云在x射线下也会发光，这仍然是一个谜。一种假说认为，一颗高能脉冲星与星云共同形成，它以快速向外移动的风为星云提供动力。根据这一线索，最近在无线电波中发现了一颗脉冲星，它似乎是由超新星爆炸以每秒1000公里的速度喷出的。虽然Medulla星云看起来像满月一样大，但它是如此微弱，以至于在加拿大阿尔伯塔省的Seven Persons用望远镜曝光了好几个小时才拍摄到这张特色图像。
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What powers this unusual nebula? CTB-1 is the expanding gas shell that was left when a massive star toward the constellation of Cassiopeia exploded about 10,000 years ago. The star likely detonated when it ran out of elements near its core that could create stabilizing pressure with nuclear fusion. The resulting supernova remnant, nicknamed the Medulla Nebula for its brain-like shape, still glows in visible light by the heat generated by its collision with confining interstellar gas. Why the nebula also glows in X-ray light, though, remains a mystery. One hypothesis holds that an energetic pulsar was co-created that powers the nebula with a fast outwardly moving wind. Following this lead, a pulsar has recently been found in radio waves that appears to have been expelled by the supernova explosion at over 1000 kilometers per second. Although the Medulla Nebula appears as large as a full moon, it is so faint that it took many hours of exposure with a telescope in Seven Persons, Alberta, Canada to create the featured image.
© Kimberly Sibbald