Copyright:
Fritz
Helmut Hemmerich
中文翻譯:
在遙遠的星空中，有一顆綠色的流星快速地從仙女座星系的前面劃過。這個流星是在2016年拍攝的照片中出現的，正好是在每年最著名的流星雨──佩爾塞流星雨的高峰期。這顆小流星是從深空中來的，就像一顆小石頭，瞬間穿過了大約10度寬的天空。當流星進入地球大氣層時，它變得非常明亮，並發出好幾次閃光，像是在表演一個燦爛的舞蹈。流星的綠色光芒是因為它在燒烤時，裡面的氣體發出了美麗的光輝。雖然這張照片是為了捕捉佩爾塞流星雨而拍攝的，但這道閃光的方向似乎更像是來自南方的德爾特流星雨，這是幾週前的另一場流星雨。今年的佩爾塞流星雨將在下週達到高峰，但這次流星可能需要在接近滿月的亮光下競爭，展現它們的壯麗。
原文:
What’s that green streak in front of the Andromeda galaxy? A meteor. While photographing the Andromeda galaxy in 2016, near the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower, a small pebble from deep space crossed right in front of our Milky Way Galaxy’s far-distant companion. The small meteor took only a fraction of a second to pass through this 10-degree field. The meteor flared several times while braking violently upon entering Earth’s atmosphere. The green color was created, at least in part, by the meteor’s gas glowing as it vaporized. Although the exposure was timed to catch a Perseid meteor, the orientation of the imaged streak seems a better match to a meteor from the Southern Delta Aquariids, a meteor shower that peaked a few weeks earlier. Not coincidentally, the Perseid Meteor Shower peaks next week, although this year the meteors will have to outshine a sky brightened by a nearly full moon.
來源:NASA每日圖片
