NASA钱德拉X射线天文台对100多个星系进行的一项新调查发现，有迹象表明，黑洞正在吞噬数千颗恒星，以增加其质量。图中所示的4个星系是样本中29个星系中的4个，这些星系显示了黑洞在其中心附近不断生长的证据。来自钱德拉（蓝色）的X射线被叠加在NASA哈勃太空望远镜拍摄的NGC 1385、NGC 1566、NGC 3344和NGC 6503的光学图像上。翻转图中出现的方框勾勒出正在萌芽的黑洞的位置。 这些新的结果表明，至少其中一些黑洞要达到现在的大小，经历了某种程度上暴力的方式——恒星毁灭的规模是前所未见。 天文学家对两类不同的黑洞进行了详细的研究。较小的种类是“恒星质量”黑洞，其质量通常为太阳质 […]
2022年4月19日 Stars and Globules in the Running Chicken Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Stefan Steve Bemmerl Explanation: The eggs from this gigantic chicken may form into stars. The featured emission nebula, shown in scientifically assigned colors, is cataloged as IC 2944 but known as the Runnin
NASA的哈勃太空望远镜建立了一个非凡的新基准：探测宇宙大爆炸后最初十亿年内存在的恒星的光——这是迄今为止观测到的最远的一颗恒星。 与之前哈勃望远镜在2018年观测到的单星记录保持者相比，这一发现是一个巨大的飞跃。那颗恒星存在于宇宙大约 40 亿年的时候，即宇宙当前年龄的 30% ，天文学家将其称为“红移 1.5”。科学家使用“红移”一词是因为随着宇宙膨胀，来自遥远物体的光在向我们传播时会被拉伸或“移动”到更长、更红的波长。 这颗新发现的恒星距离地球如此之远，以至于它的光需要 129 亿年才能到达地球，在我们看来，它就像宇宙只有当前年龄的 7%，红移 6.2 时的那样。以前在如此遥远的距离上看
An energetic outburst from an infant star streaks across this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This stellar tantrum – produced by an extremely young star in the earliest phase of formation – consists of an incandescent jet of gas travelling at supersonic speeds. As the jet collides wi
华盛顿贝尔维尤的汤姆·雅各布斯喜欢寻宝。自2010年以来，这位前美国海军军官一直参与在线志愿者项目，让任何感兴趣的人——“公民科学家”——通过NASA的望远镜数据，寻找系外行星的迹象。 现在，雅各布斯帮助发现了一颗距离地球379光年的巨型气态行星，它围绕着一颗与太阳质量相同的恒星运行。这颗木星大小的行星对天文学家来说很特别，因为行星上的一年有261天，比太阳系以外的许多已知巨型气态行星要长。这一结果还表明，这颗行星与它的恒星的距离仅比金星与太阳的距离略远一点。这一发现发表在《天文学杂志》上，并于1月13日在美国天文学会虚拟新闻发布会上发表。 这幅插图描绘了一颗名为TOI-2180 b的类木星系
2022年1月11日 Orion’s Belt Region in Gas and Dust Image Credit & Copyright: Matt Harbison (Space4Everybody), Marathon Remote Imaging Observatory Explanation: You may have seen Orion’s belt before — but not like this. The three bright stars across this image are, from left to righ
Mounded, luminous clouds of gas and dust glow in this Hubble image of a Herbig-Haro object known as HH 45. Herbig-Haro objects are a rarely seen type of nebula that occurs when hot gas ejected by a newborn star collides with the gas and dust around it at hundreds of miles per second, creating bright
This image shows knots of cold, dense interstellar gas where new stars are forming. These Free-floating Evaporating Gaseous Globules (frEGGs) were first seen in Hubble’s famous 1995 image of the Eagle Nebula. Because these lumps of gas are dark, they are rarely seen by telescopes. They can be observ
Credits: ESA/Hubble and NASA, A. Nota, C. Britt This comparison of two images shows puffing dust bubbles and an erupting gas shell – the final acts of a monster star’s life. 这两张图片的对比显示了膨胀的尘埃气泡和喷发的气体外壳——这是一颗巨型恒星生命的最后一幕。 These new views showcase the dual nature of the star AG Carinae, which was the ta
The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), located 210,000 light-years away, is one of the most dynamic and intricately detailed star-forming regions in space. At the center of the region is a brilliant star cluster called NGC 346. A dramatic structure of arched, ragged filaments with a distinct ridge surrou
