Zeta Oph：逃亡之星
(原标题: Zeta Oph: Runaway Star)
2024-01-04
浏览次数: 16
就像一艘船在宇宙的海洋中航行一样，逃离的蛇夫座ζ星产生了弧形的星际弓形波或弓形激波，在这张令人惊叹的红外照片中可以看到。在这张伪色图中，蓝色的蛇夫座ζ，一颗质量约为太阳20倍的恒星，位于画面中心附近，以每秒24公里的速度向左侧移动。它强大的恒星风先于它，压缩和加热星际尘埃物质，形成弯曲的激波锋。是什么使这颗恒星运动起来的？蛇夫座ζ可能曾经是一个双星系统的成员，它的伴星质量更大，因此寿命更短。当伴星爆炸成为一颗超新星，灾难性地失去质量时，蛇夫ζ被甩出了这个系统。大约460光年远，蛇夫座的亮度是太阳的65000倍，如果没有被模糊的尘埃包围，它将是天空中最亮的恒星之一。在蛇夫座ζ的估计距离上，这张照片的跨度约为1.5度或12光年。2020年1月，美国宇航局将斯皮策太空望远镜置于安全模式，结束了其16年成功探索宇宙的历程。
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Like a ship plowing through cosmic seas, runaway star Zeta Ophiuchi produces the arcing interstellar bow wave or bow shock seen in this stunning infrared portrait. In the false-color view, bluish Zeta Oph, a star about 20 times more massive than the Sun, lies near the center of the frame, moving toward the left at 24 kilometers per second. Its strong stellar wind precedes it, compressing and heating the dusty interstellar material and shaping the curved shock front. What set this star in motion? Zeta Oph was likely once a member of a binary star system, its companion star was more massive and hence shorter lived. When the companion exploded as a supernova catastrophically losing mass, Zeta Oph was flung out of the system. About 460 light-years away, Zeta Oph is 65,000 times more luminous than the Sun and would be one of the brighter stars in the sky if it weren't surrounded by obscuring dust. The image spans about 1.5 degrees or 12 light-years at the estimated distance of Zeta Ophiuchi. In January 2020, NASA placed the Spitzer Space Telescope in safe mode, ending its 16 successful years of exploring the cosmos.