Copyright:Neven Krcmarek
中文翻譯:
在遙遠的星空中，有一個神奇的星團叫做NGC 188。這是許多天文學家們一起努力整理出來的星星和星雲的名單中非常特別的一個。NGC 188大約距離地球有6000光年，位於北方的天鵝座，這是一個很古老的星團，年齡約有70億年呢！在這個星團裡，你可以看到很多紅色的巨星，它們像一顆顆黃黃的星星，閃閃發光。對於天文愛好者來說，這個星團也被稱為Caldwell 1，因為它在另一個天文的名單裡也有自己的號碼。據說它還被稱為北極星團，是因為它位於天空的北方，這也讓它在星空中顯得更加特別哦！
原文:
The New General Catalog of star clusters and nebulae really isn’t so new. In fact, it was published in 1888 – an effort by J. L. E. Dreyer to consolidate the work of astronomers William, Caroline, and John Herschel along with others into a useful single, complete catalog of astronomical discoveries and measurements. Dreyer’s work was largely successful and is still important today, as this famous catalog continues to lend its “NGC” to bright clusters, galaxies, and nebulae. Take for example the star cluster known as NGC 188 (item number 188 in the NGC compilation). It lies about 6,000 light-years distant in the northern constellation Cepheus and represents a galactic or open star cluster. With an age of about 7 billion years, NGC 188 is old for an open cluster. Its old, evolved red giant stars have yellowish hues in this colorful, deep sky view. NGC 188 also enjoys the designation Caldwell 1 in a modern compilation of deep sky objects. Located well above the plane of the Milky Way and seen in the direction of planet Earth’s north celestial pole, the ancient stellar group is known to some as the Polarissima Cluster.
來源:NASA每日圖片
