2025年6月9日
Between Scylla and Charybdis: A Double Cosmic Discovery
Image Credit: M. Drechsler, Y. Sainty, A. Soto, N. Martino, L. Leroux-Gere, S. Khallouqui, & A. Kaeouach; Text: Ogetay Kayali (Michigan Tech U.)
Explanation: Can you identify this celestial object? Likely not — because this is a discovery image. Massive stars forge heavy elements in their cores and, after a few million years, end their lives in powerful supernova explosions. These remnants cool relatively quickly and fade, making them difficult to detect. To uncover such faint, previously unknown supernova remnants, a dedicated group of amateur astrophotographers searched through sky surveys for possible supernova remnant candidates. The result: the first-ever image of supernova remnant G115.5+9.1 — named Scylla by its discoverers—glowing faintly in the constellation of the mythological King of Aethiopia: Cepheus. Emission from hydrogen atoms in the remnant is shown in red, and faint emission from oxygen is shown in hues of blue. Surprisingly, another discovery lurked to the upper right: a faint, previously unknown planetary nebula candidate. In keeping with mythological tradition, it was named Charybdis (Sai 2) — a nod to the ancient Greek expression “caught between Scylla and Charybdis” from Homer’s Odyssey.
Tomorrow’s picture: leaky space orb
高危险区的双重天文发现
影像提供: M. Drechsler, Y. Sainty, A. Soto, N. Martino, L. Leroux-Gere, S. Khallouqui, & A. Kaeouach; 文稿: Ogetay Kayali (Michigan Tech U.)
说明: 你能说出影像中这个天体的名称吗？可能不行，因为这是此天体的发现影像。大质量恒星会不停的在核心锻造重元素，然后在数百万年内，发生强烈超新星爆炸终结其生命。它们所留下的遗迹，会逐渐降温和变暗，变得难以侦测。之所以能找到这个先前不知的昏暗超新星遗迹，源自一群业余天文摄影者，进行了专注寻找超新星遗迹的巡天工作。从而在以神话故事埃塞俄比亚国王来命名的仙王座方向，拍下了昏暗超新星遗迹G115.5+9.1的发现影像，并由发现者将之命名为斯库拉（Scylla）。在这幅影像里，遗迹里的氢原子发出的光，以红色来呈现，而暗淡的氧原子辐射，则以蓝色来表现。很意外的，这幅发现影像的右上角，还藏着另一个新发现的天体，可能是先前未知的行星状星云。遵守天体以神话人事物来命名的传统，这个候选行星状星云的名称为“卡律布狄斯（Charybdis；Sai 2）。”所以，上面这些因”caught between Scylla and Charybdis（身处危险之地）一词”而得名的天体，明显是在向荷马的史诗《奥德赛》致敬。 （注：Scylla为希腊神话的六头怪物，而附近的Charybdis则是会吞没船只的漩涡）
明日的图片: leaky space orb
