Copyright:
Xinran Li &
Houbo Zhao
中文翻譯:
有時，星際空間中的黑暗塵埃會散發出一種角度優雅的美感。這正是位於南方星座Chamaeleon的一個例子。通常，這些黑暗塵埃太微弱而無法看見，最為人知的是它能夠阻擋來自星星和星系的可見光。不過，在這張長達11.4小時的曝光圖中，這些塵埃主要是在自身的光芒中顯現，強烈的紅色和近紅外色彩形成了棕色的色調。在畫面右上角，明亮的藍色星星Beta Chamaeleontis清晰可見，而它周圍的塵埃則偏向於反射藍色的光，這是因為它主要是藍白色的。所有這些圖像中的星星和塵埃都屬於我們的銀河系，只有一個例外：在Beta Chamaeleontis正下方的白點是遙遠的銀河IC 3104，距離我們非常遙遠。星際塵埃主要是在巨星的冷氣氛中形成的，然後透過恆星的光、恆星風以及恆星爆炸，如超新星，散播到太空中。
原文:
Sometimes the dark dust of interstellar space has an angular elegance. Such is the case toward the far-south constellation of Chamaeleon. Normally too faint to see, dark dust is best known for blocking visible light from stars and galaxies behind it. In this 11.4-hour exposure, however, the dust is seen mostly in light of its own, with its strong red and near-infrared colors creating a brown hue. Contrastingly blue, a bright star Beta Chamaeleontis is visible on the upper right of the V, with the dust that surrounds it preferentially reflecting blue light from its primarily blue-white color. All of the pictured stars and dust occur in our own Milky Way Galaxy with one notable exception: a white spot just below Beta Chamaeleontis is the galaxy IC 3104, which lies far in the distance. Interstellar dust is mostly created in the cool atmospheres of giant stars and dispersed into space by stellar light, stellar winds, and stellar explosions such as supernovas.
來源:NASA每日圖片
