Copyright:Leo Shatz
中文翻譯:
在遙遠的宇宙中，有一個叫做Omega Centauri的星團，裡面有大約1000萬顆星星，它們的年齡比太陽還要古老哦！這個星團又被稱為NGC 5139，距離我們有15000光年遠，是已知的200多個星團中最大和最亮的之一。你知道嗎？大多數星團裡的星星年齡和成分都是一樣的，但Omega Centauri可不一樣，它裡面有許多不同年齡和化學成分的星星，就像是一座小小的星星城市！這裡的紅巨星看起來有點黃黃的，非常容易被找到。科學家用哈勃太空望遠鏡研究這個神秘的星團已經有二十年了，並且發現它的中心附近可能有一個巨大的黑洞，真是太奇妙了！
原文:
Globular star cluster Omega Centauri packs about 10 million stars much older than the Sun into a volume some 150 light-years in diameter. Also known as NGC 5139, at a distance of 15,000 light-years it’s the largest and brightest of 200 or so known globular clusters that roam the halo of our Milky Way galaxy. Though most star clusters consist of stars with the same age and composition, the enigmatic Omega Cen exhibits the presence of different stellar populations with a spread of ages and chemical abundances. In fact, Omega Cen may be the remnant core of a small galaxy merging with the Milky Way. With a yellowish hue, Omega Centauri’s red giant stars are easy to pick out in this sharp telescopic view. A two-decade-long exploration of the dense star cluster with the Hubble Space Telescope has revealed evidence for a massive black hole near the center of Omega Centauri.
來源:NASA每日圖片
