彗星状云球

彗星状云球

Cometary Globules
Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson & Martin Pugh, Observatorio El Sauce

Explanation: What are these unusual interstellar structures? Bright-rimmed, flowing shapes gather near the center of this rich starfield toward the borders of the nautical southern constellations Pupis and Vela. Composed of interstellar gas and dust, the grouping of light-year sized cometary globules is about 1300 light-years distant. Energetic ultraviolet light from nearby hot stars has molded the globules and ionized their bright rims. The globules also stream away from the Vela supernova remnant which may have influenced their swept-back shapes. Within them, cores of cold gas and dust are likely collapsing to form low mass stars, whose formation will ultimately cause the globules to disperse. In fact, cometary globule CG 30 (on the upper left) sports a small reddish glow near its head, a telltale sign of energetic jets from a star in the early stages of formation.

Tomorrow’s picture: volcanic sky

彗星状云球
影像提供与版权: Mark Hanson & Martin Pugh, Observatorio El Sauce

说明: 这些不寻常的星际结构是什么？这些边缘明亮、形状带着流动感的结构，位于南天的船尾座和船帆座接壤的这片富星场之中心附近。这些由星际气体和尘埃组成的、约有光年长的成群彗星状云球，离我们约1,300光年远。来自附近炽热恒星的高能紫外光，雕塑了这些云球并电离它们明亮的边缘。除此之外，可能是受到船帆超新星的影响，这些带着后掠形状的云球，其尾部指向远离船帆超新星遗迹的方向。在它们内部以低温气体和尘埃为主成分的核心，可能正在塌缩形成小质量恒星，而恒星的形成最后会导致这些云球的消散。事实上，位于影像左上方的彗星状云球CG 30的头部附近，镶着一小片泛红的辉光，而这正是恒星形成早期所发出的高能喷流造成的特征标志。

明日的图片: volcanic sky