IC 2574：柯丁顿星云
(原标题: IC 2574: Coddington's Nebula)
2025-02-06
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大的螺旋星系似乎常常得到所有的荣耀，炫耀着它们年轻、明亮、蓝色的星团在美丽、对称的螺旋臂上。但小而不规则的星系也会形成恒星。事实上，矮星系IC 2574在其发光氢气的红色区域显示出强烈的恒星形成活动的清晰证据。就像在螺旋星系中一样，IC 2574中动荡的恒星形成区域被恒星风和超新星爆炸搅动，将物质喷射到星系的星际介质中，并引发进一步的恒星形成。IC 2574距离我们只有1200万光年，是M81星系群的一部分，位于大熊座北部。这个可爱的岛屿宇宙也被称为柯丁顿星云，直径约5万光年，由美国天文学家埃德温·柯丁顿于1898年发现。
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Grand spiral galaxies often seem to get all the glory, flaunting their young, bright, blue star clusters in beautiful, symmetric spiral arms. But small, irregular galaxies form stars too. In fact dwarf galaxy IC 2574 shows clear evidence of intense star forming activity in its telltale reddish regions of glowing hydrogen gas. Just as in spiral galaxies, the turbulent star-forming regions in IC 2574 are churned by stellar winds and supernova explosions spewing material into the galaxy's interstellar medium and triggering further star formation. A mere 12 million light-years distant, IC 2574 is part of the M81 group of galaxies, seen toward the northern constellation Ursa Major. Also known as Coddington's Nebula, the lovely island universe is about 50,000 light-years across, discovered by American astronomer Edwin Coddington in 1898.
© Lorand Fenyes