银河在绿松石仙境之上
(原标题: Milky Way over a Turquoise Wonderland)
2023-05-29
浏览次数: 14
是什么在发光？答案取决于：海洋还是天空？在海洋中，这种不寻常的蓝光是生物发光。具体来说，这种微光来自于夜光浮游生物，一种受到海浪拍打刺激的单细胞浮游生物。浮游生物用它们的发光来惊吓和照亮捕食者。2月中旬，在马尔代夫的一个岛上，这种现象非常强烈，以至于天体摄影师将其描述为绿松石仙境。相比之下，在天空中，我们更熟悉的是恒星和星云发出的光芒。从人工照明的绿色植物中升起的白带是由我们银河系中央圆盘上的数十亿颗恒星形成的。在天空中也可以看到半人马座欧米茄星团，在左边，和著名的南十字星团在中央。红色发光的星云包括明亮的船底座星云（中间偏右）和膨胀的胶状星云（右上方）。
查看原文解释
What glows there? The answer depends: sea or sky? In the sea, the unusual blue glow is bioluminescence. Specifically, the glimmer arises from Noctiluca scintillans, single-celled plankton stimulated by the lapping waves. The plankton use their glow to startle and illuminate predators. This mid-February display on an island in the Maldives was so intense that the astrophotographer described it as a turquoise wonderland. In the sky, by contrast, are the more familiar glows of stars and nebulas. The white band rising from the artificially-illuminated green plants is created by billions of stars in the central disk of our Milky Way Galaxy. Also visible in the sky is the star cluster Omega Centauri, toward the left, and the famous Southern Cross asterism in the center. Red-glowing nebulas include the bright Carina Nebula, just right of center, and the expansive Gum Nebula on the upper right.
© Petr Horálek / Institute of Physics in Opava, Sovena Jani