2025年11月6日
NGC 253: 尘埃覆盖的岛宇宙
影像提供与版权: Adam Block
说明: 闪亮的NGC 253是可见的最亮螺旋星系之一，也是尘埃含量最高的星系之一。有些人称它为“银币星系”，因为它在小型望远镜中看起来像银币，或直接称它为“玉夫座星系”，因为它位于南天星座玉夫座的范围内。这个尘埃遍布的「宇宙岛屿」于1783年由数学家兼天文学家卡洛琳·赫歇尔所发现，距离我们仅1000万光年。NGC 253直径约7万光年，是玉夫座星系群中最大的成员，也是距离我们所在的本星系群最近的星系群。除了旋涡状的尘埃带之外，似乎还有尘埃丝缕从其星系盘中升起，在这幅色彩缤纷的星系照片中交织着年轻的星团和恒星形成区。NGC 253星系尘埃含量高，恒星形成活动剧烈，因此被归类为星遽增星系。NGC 253星系也被认为是高能量X射线和伽马射线的强源，这很可能是由于星系中心附近的黑洞造成的。
明日的图片: pixels in space
Due to the lapse in federal government funding, NASA is not updating APOD website. We sincerely regret this inconvenience.
由于美国联邦政府资金中断，NASA目前暂停更新APOD网站。对此带来的不便，我们深感抱歉。
英文原文:
Explanation: Shiny NGC 253 is one of the brightest spiral galaxies visible, and also one of the dustiest. Some call it the Silver Coin Galaxy for its appearance in small telescopes, or just the Sculptor Galaxy for its location within the boundaries of the southern constellation Sculptor. Discovered in 1783 by mathematician and astronomer Caroline Herschel , the dusty island universe lies a mere 10 million light-years away. About 70 thousand light-years across, NGC 253 is the largest member of the Sculptor Group of Galaxies , the nearest to our own Local Group of Galaxies . In addition to its spiral dust lanes, tendrils of dust seem to be rising from its galactic disk laced with young star clusters and star forming regions in this colorful galaxy portrait . The high dust content accompanies frantic star formation, earning NGC 253 the designation of a starburst galaxy . NGC 253 is also known to be a strong source of high-energy x-rays and gamma rays , likely due to black holes near the galaxy’s center.
