2025年9月3日
Cir X-1: Jets in the Africa Nebula
Image Credit: J. English (U. Manitoba) & K. Gasealahwe (U. Cape Town), SARAO, MeerKAT, ThunderKAT; Science: K. Gasealahwe, K. Savard (U. Oxford) et al.; Text: J. English & K. Savard
Explanation: How soon do jets form when a supernova gives birth to a neutron star? The Africa Nebula provides clues. This supernova remnant surrounds Circinus X-1, an X-ray emitting neutron star and the companion star it orbits. The image, from the ThunderKAT collaboration on the MeerKAT radio telescope situated in South Africa, shows the bright core-and-lobe structure of Cir X-1’s currently active jets inside the nebula. A mere 4600 years old, Cir X-1 could be the “Little Sister” of microquasar SS 433*. However, the newly discovered bubble exiting from a ring-like hole in the upper right of the nebula, along with a ring to the bottom left, demonstrate that other jets previously existed. Computer simulations indicate those jets formed within 100 years of the explosion and lasted up to 1000 years. Surprisingly, to create the observed bubble, the jets need to be more powerful than young neutron stars were previously thought to produce.
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Tomorrow’s picture: spiral on edge
非洲星云中的Cir X-1喷流
影像提供: J. English (U. Manitoba) & K. Gasealahwe (U. Cape Town), SARAO, MeerKAT, ThunderKAT; Science: K. Gasealahwe, K. Savard (U. Oxford) et al.; 文稿: J. English & K. Savard
说明: 超新星爆炸后，喷流在何时形成并诞生中子星？非洲星云提供了线索。「非洲星云」（Africa Nebula）提供了新的线索。这个超新星残骸包围着X射线发射的中子星——圆规座X-1（Circinus X-1），以及其伴星。这张影像来自南非 MeerKAT射电望远镜「ThunderKAT合作计画」，展示了Cir X-1当前活跃喷流在星云内形成的明亮核心与双叶结构。Cir X-1的年龄仅约4,600年，或许可以视为「微类星体」（microquasar）SS 433的「小妹」。然而，在星云右上方环状结构中逸出的新发现气泡，以及左下方的另一个环状结构，显示早期也曾存在过不同世代的喷流。电脑模拟显示，那些早期喷流可能在超新星爆炸后100年内便已形成，并持续了长达1,000年。令人意外的是，为了形成如今观测到的气泡，喷流必须比天文学家先前认为的年轻中子星所能产生的能量更为强大。
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明日的图片: spiral on edge
