Copyright:William Vrbasso
Text:
Keighley Rockcliffe
(NASA
GSFC,
UMBC CSST,
CRESST II)
中文翻譯:
在星空的深處，隱藏著一隻神秘的黑狼，它住在叫做Gum 55的地方。這可不是一個謎語！今天的圖像展示了黑狼星雲（Dark Wolf Nebula），它是一片奇妙的塵埃雲，位於Scorpius星座的Gum 55星雲裡。雖然對我們來說，塵埃可能是一個惱人的存在，但它在星星出生的過程中卻扮演著重要的角色。黑狼星雲吸收了Gum 55中年輕星星發出的強烈紫外線和可見光，然後以長波長的紅外線再發射出來。這樣一來，高能量的光線就不會加熱周圍的氣體了。當氣體冷卻得足夠時，引力就會發揮作用，造成氣體凝聚成一顆星星。不僅塵埃像是太空中的溫度控制器，它還是氫原子聚集形成分子氫的地方，這是星星的基本材料。看起來有些可怕的黑狼，其實是宇宙生命的預兆。
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
