Stars of the Galactic Center
影像提供: Susan Stolovy (SSC/Caltech) et al., JPL-Caltech, NASA
Explanation:
The center of our Milky Way Galaxy is hidden from the prying eyes of optical telescopes by clouds of obscuring dust and gas. But in this stunning vista, the Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared cameras, penetrate much of the dust revealing the stars of the crowded galactic center region. A mosaic of many smaller snapshots, the detailed, false-color image shows older, cool stars in bluish hues. Reddish glowing dust clouds are associated with young, hot stars in stellar nurseries. The galactic center lies some 26,000 light-years away, toward the constellation Sagittarius. At that distance, this picture spans about 900 light-years.
說明:
在不透光塵埃與雲氣的遮掩下，我們銀河系的中心在可見光望遠鏡中隱不可見。但是這幅由史匹哲太空望遠鏡紅外光相機所拍攝的迷人的星野，卻能穿透大部份的塵埃，清楚呈現了擁擠銀河系中心區的眾多恆星。這幅由多張影像所組合出的清晰假色照片，以藍色的色調來呈現了較年老的低溫恆星。發出紅色輝光的塵埃雲，則與恆星誕生區內的年輕熾熱恆星緊密相聯。銀河中心位在人馬座內，離我們約有二萬六千光年遠。在這個距離，這幅影像大約涵蓋了九百光年的天區。
資料來源: Scientific American
Department of Physics, NCKU
