2025年4月20日
The Orion Nebula in Visible and Infrared
Image Credit & Copyright: Infrared: NASA, Spitzer Space Telescope; Visible: Oliver Czernetz, Siding Spring Obs.
Explanation: The Great Nebula in Orion is a colorful place. Visible to the unaided eye, it appears as a small fuzzy patch in the constellation of Orion. Long exposure, multi-wavelength images like this, however, show the Orion Nebula to be a busy neighborhood of young stars, hot gas, and dark dust. This digital composite features not only three colors of visible light but four colors of infrared light taken by NASA‘s orbiting Spitzer Space Telescope as well. The power behind much of the Orion Nebula (M42) is the Trapezium – four of the brightest stars in the nebula. Many of the filamentary structures visible are actually shock waves – fronts where fast moving material encounters slow moving gas. The Orion Nebula spans about 40 light years and is located about 1500 light years away in the same spiral arm of our Galaxy as the Sun.
Tomorrow’s picture: galaxy-sized telescope
可见光及红外光波段的猎户座大星云
影像提供及版权: 红外光: NASA, Spitzer Space Telescope; 可见光: Oliver Czernetz, Siding Spring Obs.
说明: 猎户座大星云是个色彩缤纷的地方。这个肉眼即可见的天体，视觉上是猎户座内的不起眼弥漫晕斑。不过，类似上面的这种多波段长曝光影像证实，猎户座大星云是个由年轻恒星、炽热气体、与暗色尘埃交织而成的喧嚣天体。这幅数位组合影像，不仅呈现三色可见光波段所看到的景象，还加上来自美国国家航空航天局 斯皮策太空望远镜的四色红外光数据。在背后驱动猎户座大星云（M42）发光的能量源，则是猎户座大星云内最明亮的4颗恒星所组成的四边型星团。影像中所见的诸多丝状结构，其实是高速移动物质冲撞低速移动气体的激波前缘。离我们约1,500光年 远、宽约40光年的猎户座大星云，与太阳 位于我们银河系的同一条旋臂上。
明日的图片: galaxy-sized telescope
