Copyright:William Vrbasso
Text:
Keighley Rockcliffe
(NASA
GSFC,
UMBC CSST,
CRESST II)
中文翻譯:
在星空中，有一隻神秘的黑色狼，這可不是謎語哦！今天我們要介紹的是Dark Wolf Nebula（黑狼星雲），它是一片藏在Gum 55星雲（也叫RCW 113）裡的神秘塵埃雲，位於天蠍座的星空中。雖然塵埃對我們來說是個麻煩，但它其實扮演著創造新星所需條件的重要角色。黑狼會吸收Gum 55裡年輕恆星發出的強烈紫外線和可見光，然後以較長的波長，主要是紅外線形式重新發射出來。這樣可以防止高能光線把附近的氣體加熱。當一片氣體變得足夠冷，重力就會發揮作用，將氣體壓縮成星星。不僅塵埃像是一個星際溫控器，它還是單一氫原子合成分子氫的約會場所，這是星星的建築材料。看起來令人毛骨悚然的黑狼，實際上是一個宇宙生命的預兆。
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
