希克森44号在利奥
(原标题: Hickson 44 in Leo)
2025-04-04
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加拿大天文学家保罗·希克森（Paul Hickson）和他的同事在扫描天空寻找星系时，发现了大约100个致密星系群，现在被恰当地称为希克森致密星系群。在这张有趣的望远镜星空图中看到的四个突出的星系就是这样一个星系群，希克森44。这个星系群距离我们大约1亿光年远，远远超出了银河系前景中尖尖的恒星，朝向狮子座。图像中心的两个螺旋星系是具有独特的弯曲尘埃带的边缘星系NGC 3190和s形星系NGC 3187。与明亮的椭圆星系NGC 3193（上图和左侧）一起，它们也被称为Arp 316。右下角的螺旋是NGC 3185，希克森星系群的第四个成员。像希克森星系群中的其他星系一样，这些星系显示出扭曲和恒星形成增强的迹象，这是引力拉锯战的证据，最终将导致宇宙时间尺度上的星系合并。合并过程现在被认为是星系演化的正常部分，包括我们的银河系。就尺度而言，NGC 3190的直径约为75000光年，估计距离为Hickson 44。
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Scanning the skies for galaxies, Canadian astronomer Paul Hickson and colleagues identified some 100 compact groups of galaxies, now appropriately called Hickson Compact Groups. The four prominent galaxies seen in this intriguing telescopic skyscape are one such group, Hickson 44. The galaxy group is about 100 million light-years distant, far beyond the spiky foreground Milky Way stars, toward the constellation Leo. The two spiral galaxies in the center of the image are edge-on NGC 3190 with its distinctive, warped dust lanes, and S-shaped NGC 3187. Along with the bright elliptical, NGC 3193 (above and left) they are also known as Arp 316. The spiral toward the lower right corner is NGC 3185, the 4th member of the Hickson group. Like other galaxies in Hickson groups, these show signs of distortion and enhanced star formation, evidence of a gravitational tug of war that will eventually result in galaxy mergers on a cosmic timescale. The merger process is now understood to be a normal part of the evolution of galaxies, including our own Milky Way. For scale, NGC 3190 is about 75,000 light-years across at the estimated distance of Hickson 44.
© Jiang Wu