中文翻譯:
在遙遠的天空中，有一個非常特別的星雲，叫做CTB 1。它是在一顆巨大恆星爆炸之後形成的，這顆恆星在大約一萬年前發出了強烈的光芒，最後化為一片亮亮的氣體雲。這個星雲的形狀像一顆大腦，因此也被叫做Medulla Nebula。有趣的是，這個星雲不僅能在我們肉眼能看到的光中發光，還能在X射線中發光！科學家們認為，這可能是因為裡面有一顆快速轉動的星星，叫做脈衝星，它像風一樣沖出來，為星雲提供能量。最近，科學家們發現了一個脈衝星，它的速度超過1000公里每秒，是由這次超新星爆炸推出來的！雖然這個Medulla Nebula的大小和滿月差不多，但它很微弱，需要在德州用小望遠鏡拍攝84個小時才能拍出這幅美麗的圖片。
原文:
What powers this unusual nebula? CTB 1 is the expanding gas shell that was left when a massive star toward the constellation of Cassiopeia exploded about 10,000 years ago. The star likely detonated when it ran out of elements, near its core, that could create stabilizing pressure with nuclear fusion. The resulting supernova remnant, nicknamed the Medulla Nebula for its brain-like shape, still glows in visible light because of the heat generated by its collision with confining interstellar gas. Why the nebula also glows in X-ray light, though, remains a topic of research. One hypothesis holds that an energetic pulsar was created and powers the nebula with a fast outwardly moving wind. Following this lead, a pulsar was found in radio waves that appears to have been expelled by the supernova explosion at over 1000 kilometers per second. Although the Medulla Nebula appears as large as a full moon, it is so faint that it took 84-hours of exposure with a small telescope in Texas, USA, to create the featured image.
來源:NASA每日圖片
