保护地球，探索宇宙，发现文明
2021年04月17日 Inside the Flame Nebula Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, IPAC Infrared Science Archive – Processing: Amal Biju Explanation: The Flame Nebula is a stand out in optical images of the dusty, crowded star forming regions toward Orion’s belt and the easternmost belt star Alnitak, a mere 1,400 light-years away. Alnitak is the bright star at...
2021年03月19日 Central Lagoon in Infrared Image Credit & License: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Data Archive: MAST, Processing: Alexandra Nachman Explanation: Stars fill this infrared view, spanning 4 light-years across the center of the Lagoon Nebula. Visible light images show the glowing gas and obscuring dust clouds that dominate the scene. But this infrared image...
2021年03月07日 Pillars of the Eagle Nebula in Infrared Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Processing: Luis Romero Explanation: Newborn stars are forming in the Eagle Nebula. Gravitationally contracting in pillars of dense gas and dust, the intense radiation of these newly-formed bright stars is causing surrounding material to boil away. This image, taken wit...
2021年01月16日 The Mountains of NGC 2174 Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Explanation: This fantastic skyscape lies near the edge of NGC 2174 a star forming region about 6,400 light-years away in the nebula-rich constellation of Orion. It follows mountainous clouds of gas and dust carved by winds and radiation from the region’s n...
2020年8月20日 Seeing Titan Image Credit: VIMS Team, U. Arizona, U. Nantes, ESA, NASA Explanation: Shrouded in a thick atmosphere, Saturn’s largest moon Titan really is hard to see. Small particles suspended in the upper atmosphere cause an almost impenetrable haze, strongly scattering light at visible wavelengths and hiding Titan’s surface features ...
2020 May 13 Jupiter in Infrared from Gemini Image Credit: International Gemini Observatory, NOIRLab, NSF, AURA; M. H. Wong (UC Berkeley) & Team; Acknowledgment: Mahdi Zamani; Text: Alex R. Howe (NASA/USRA, Reader’s History of SciFi Podcast) Explanation: In infrared, Jupiter lights up the night. Recently, astronomers at the Gemini North Observatory...
2020 April 12 The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared from Hubble Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Explanation: While drifting through the cosmos, a magnificent interstellar dust cloud became sculpted by stellar winds and radiation to assume a recognizable shape. Fittingly named the Horsehead Nebula, it is embedded in the vast and ...
2020 February 13 Spitzer’s Trifid Image Credit: J. Rho (SSC/Caltech), JPL-Caltech, NASA Explanation: The Trifid Nebula, also known as Messier 20, is easy to find with a small telescope. About 30 light-years across and 5,500 light-years distant it’s a popular stop for cosmic tourists in the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. As its name sugges...
2019 November 17 Young Stars in the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, WISE Explanation: How do stars form? To help find out, astronomers created this tantalizing false-color composition of dust clouds and embedded newborn stars in infrared wavelengths with WISE, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. The cosmic canvas features one of the ...
2019 August 31 Spitzer’s Orion Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech Explanation: Few cosmic vistas excite the imagination like the Orion Nebula, an immense stellar nursery some 1,500 light-years away. Spanning about 40 light-years across the region, this infrared image from the Spitzer Space Telescope was constructed from data intended to monitor the bright...