Copyright:William Vrbasso
Text:
Keighley Rockcliffe
(NASA
GSFC,
UMBC CSST,
CRESST II)
中文翻譯:
在我們的天空中，有一種神秘的星雲叫做Dark Wolf Nebula（黑狼星雲），它藏在名為Gum 55（甘姆55）的雲朵裡，這些都是在天蠍座的星座中。雖然星際塵埃對我們來說是個麻煩，但它卻在星星誕生的過程中扮演著非常重要的角色。黑狼星雲能吸收來自年輕星星發出的強烈紫外線和可見光，然後再把它們以較長的紅外波長重新發射出來。這樣做可以使周圍的氣體不會過熱，當氣體足夠冷的時候，重力就會發揮作用，讓氣體塌縮成為星星。這些看起來有些可怕的黑狼星雲，實際上是宇宙生命的預兆！
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
