2025年12月10日
The Horsehead Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: George Chatzifrantzis
Explanation: Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, this dusty interstellar molecular cloud has by chance has assumed an immediately recognizable shape. Fittingly known as The Horsehead Nebula, it lies some 1,500 light-years distant, embedded in the vast Orion cloud complex. About five light-years “tall,” the dark cloud is cataloged as Barnard 33, first identified on a photographic plate taken in the late 19th century. B33 is visible primarily because its obscuring dust is silhouetted against the glow of emission nebula IC 434. Hubble space telescope images from the early 21st century find young stars forming within B33. Of course, the magnificent interstellar cloud will slowly shift its apparent shape over the next few million years. But for now the Horsehead Nebula is a rewarding though difficult object to view with small telescopes from planet Earth.
Tomorrow’s picture: the spectrum of the Sun
马头星云
影像提供与版权: George Chatzifrantzis
说明: 在恒星风和辐射的雕琢下，这片尘埃弥漫的星际分子云偶然间呈现出现在我们一眼就能认出的形状。它被恰如其分地称为马头星云，距离地球约1500光年，镶嵌在广阔的猎户座星云群中。这片”高”约5光年的暗云被编入星表，编号为巴纳德33（Barnard 33），最早是在19世纪末拍摄的一张照片底片上被发现的。B33之所以可见，主要是因为其遮蔽的尘埃在发射星云IC 434的映衬下形成了轮廓。21世纪初，哈勃太空望远镜拍摄的影像显示，B33内部正在形成年轻的恒星。当然，在未来的数百万年间，这片壮丽的星际云的形状会逐渐改变。但就目前而言，即使使用地球上的小型望远镜进行观测，马头星云仍然是一个令人兴奋却又颇具挑战性的天体。
明日的图片: the spectrum of the Sun
