2025年9月5日
47 Tucanae: Globular Star Cluster
Image Credit & Copyright: Carlos Taylor
Explanation: Also known as NGC 104, 47 Tucanae is a jewel of the southern sky. Not a star but a dense cluster of stars, it roams the halo of our Milky Way Galaxy along with some 200 other globular star clusters. The second brightest globular cluster (after Omega Centauri) as seen from planet Earth, 47 Tuc lies about 13,000 light-years away. It can be spotted with the naked eye close on the sky to the Small Magellanic Cloud in the constellation of the Toucan. The dense cluster is made up of hundreds of thousands of stars in a volume only about 120 light-years across. Red giant stars on the outskirts of the cluster are easy to pick out as yellowish stars in this sharp telescopic portrait. Tightly packed globular star cluster 47 Tuc is also home to a star with the closest known orbit around a black hole.
Tomorrow’s picture: sea and skyscape
球状星团杜鹃座47
影像提供与版权: Carlos Taylor
说明: 杜鹃座47又称为NGC 104，是南天的一颗明珠。它不是一颗恒星，而是一个稠密的星团，与大约200个其他球状星团一起漫游在本银河系的银晕中。杜鹃座47是从地球上看到第二亮的球状星团（仅次于半人马座ω），距离我们约13,000光年。在天空中，只要用肉眼就能在杜鹃座的小麦哲伦星系附近看到它。这个稠密的星团由数十万颗恒星组成，直径仅约120光年。在这张清晰的望远镜影像中，星团边缘的红巨星很容易辨认出来，因为它们是淡黄色的恒星。紧密排列的球状星团47杜鹃座也是已知环绕黑洞运行轨道最近的恒星所在地。
明日的图片: sea and skyscape
