Copyright:George Chatzifrantzis
中文翻譯:
在遙遠的星空中，有一片神秘的雲朵，叫做 Horsehead Nebula（海馬星雲）。它是由宇宙中的星風和光線塑造而成，令人驚奇的是，它的形狀就像一匹馬的頭，十分易於識別！這片星雲距離我們約1,500光年，藏身於浩瀚的獵戶座星雲複合體裡。Horsehead Nebula 高約五光年，因為它的黑暗塵埃在發光的雲霧IC 434前面，形成了一道迷人的剪影。早在19世紀末，科學家就已經發現了這個神秘的雲朵。近年來，哈勃太空望遠鏡的影像顯示，在這片星雲裡，年輕的星星正在悄悄地誕生。雖然海馬星雲的形狀會隨著時間慢慢改變，但現在它依然是一個難以觀賞的美麗對象，喜歡用小望遠鏡觀星的人們可以在他們的後院中嘗試尋找這片奇妙的雲朵！
原文:
Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, this dusty interstellar molecular cloud has by chance has assumed an immediately recognizable shape. Fittingly known as The Horsehead Nebula, it lies some 1,500 light-years distant, embedded in the vast Orion cloud complex. About five light-years “tall,” the dark cloud is cataloged as Barnard 33, first identified on a photographic plate taken in the late 19th century. B33 is visible primarily because its obscuring dust is silhouetted against the glow of emission nebula IC 434. Hubble space telescope images from the early 21st century find young stars forming within B33. Of course, the magnificent interstellar cloud will slowly shift its apparent shape over the next few million years. But for now the Horsehead Nebula is a rewarding though difficult object to view with small telescopes from planet Earth.
來源:NASA每日圖片
