满是尘埃的昴宿星团

满是尘埃的昴宿星团

Seven Dusty Sisters
Image Credit: WISE, IRSA, NASA; Processing & Copyright: Francesco Antonucci

Explanation: Is this really the famous Pleiades star cluster? Known for its iconic blue stars, the Pleiades is shown here in infrared light where the surrounding dust outshines the stars. Here, three infrared colors have been mapped into visual colors (R=24, G=12, B=4.6 microns). The base images were taken by NASA’s orbiting Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft. Cataloged as M45 and nicknamed the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades star cluster is by chance situated in a passing dust cloud. The light and winds from the massive Pleiades stars preferentially repel smaller dust particles, causing the dust to become stratified into filaments, as seen. The featured image spans about 20 light years at the distance of the Pleiades, which lies about 450 light years distant toward the constellation of the Bull (Taurus).

Tomorrow’s picture: comet above clouds

满是尘埃的昴宿星团
影像提供: WISE, IRSA, NASA; 影像处理与版权: Francesco Antonucci

说明: 这真的是著名的昴宿星团吗？这幅红外光影像所呈现的昴宿星团，通常是以标志性的泛蓝恒星著称，不过在此影像里，周边的尘埃反而比恒星还要明亮。而转换建构出这幅可见光影像的三个红外光波段，分别是24（红）、12（绿）及4.6微米（蓝）。上面这幅影像的底图，则是由美国航空航天局的广视野红外线巡天卫星（WISE）所拍摄的。编录号为M45、常昵称七姐妹星团的昴宿星团，恰好座落在一团路过的尘埃云里。来自昴宿星团大质量成员星的星光和恒星风，吹跑了颗粒较小的尘埃粒子，造成尘埃分层，形成影像中所见到的丝缕状结构。这张主题影像，涵盖金牛座方向距离约450光年远的昴宿星团所在之处，约莫20光年宽的区域。

明日的图片: comet above clouds