Copyright:William Vrbasso
Text:
Keighley Rockcliffe
(NASA
GSFC,
UMBC CSST,
CRESST II)
中文翻譯:
在遙遠的天上，有一隻神秘的暗黑狼，它在名為Gum的地方沉睡。這隻暗黑狼並不是一個謎語哦！它是暗黑狼星雲（Dark Wolf Nebula），位於天蠍座中的Gum 55星雲內。雖然塵埃對我們來說可能是個麻煩，但它卻在星星的誕生中扮演著重要角色。暗黑狼吸收了Gum 55中年輕恆星發出的強烈紫外線和可見光，然後把這些光以紅外線的形式重新發射出去。這樣可以防止高能光把周圍的氣體加熱得太高。當氣體冷卻到足夠的程度時，重力就會開始工作，使這些氣體聚集並形成恆星。所以，看似可怕的暗黑狼其實是宇宙生命的奉獻者！
原文:
A dark wolf lies in gum. No, this isn’t a riddle! Today’s image features the Dark Wolf Nebula (Sandqvist–Lindroos 17), a spooky dust cloud embedded within the Gum 55 (RCW 113) Nebula in the Scorpius constellation. While dust is a pest to us, it serves a vital role in creating the necessary conditions for stars to be born. The Dark Wolf absorbs the intense ultraviolet and visible light emitted by young stars in Gum 55 and re-emits it at longer, mainly infrared, wavelengths. This prevents the higher energy light from heating up the gas in the region. When a region of gas is cool enough, gravity takes over and causes the gas to collapse into a star. Not only does dust act as an interstellar thermostat, but it is also the meet-cute for single hydrogen atoms forming molecular hydrogen, the building block for stars. The seemingly sinister Dark Wolf is actually a harbinger of cosmic life.
來源:NASA每日圖片
