NGC 6188: 天坛座的龙形云气

NGC 6188: 天坛座的龙形云气

NGC 6188: Dragons of Ara
Image Credit & Copyright: Carlos Taylor

Explanation: Do dragons fight on the altar of the sky? Although it might appear that way, these dragons are illusions made of thin gas and dust. The emission nebula NGC 6188, home to the glowing clouds, is found about 4,000 light years away near the edge of a large molecular cloud, unseen at visible wavelengths, in the southern constellation Ara (the Altar). Massive, young stars of the embedded Ara OB1 association were formed in that region only a few million years ago, sculpting the dark shapes and powering the nebular glow with stellar winds and intense ultraviolet radiation. The recent star formation itself was likely triggered by winds and supernova explosions from previous generations of massive stars, that swept up and compressed the molecular gas. This impressively detailed image spans over 2 degrees (four full Moons), corresponding to over 150 light years at the estimated distance of NGC 6188.

Tomorrow’s picture: open solstice

NGC 6188: 天坛座的龙形云气
影像提供与版权: Carlos Taylor

说明: 天坛座发生了龙族大战吗？虽然乍看像是如此，但这些“龙”其实是由稀薄气体和尘埃聚成的幻影。而这些发光云气所属的发射星云NGC 6188，位于天坛座内一团可见光波段不可见的庞大分子云之边缘附近，离我们大约有4,000光年远。此星云嵌着刚在数百万年前形成的天坛OB1星协之大质量年轻恒星，它们所散发的强烈紫外辐射和恒星风，除了雕塑出这些奇形云气之外，也激发星云内的云气发出辉光。这些近期的恒星形成活动，可能是先前世代的大质量恒星之恒星风和超新星爆炸，推扫和压缩分子云气所触发的。这张无比清晰跨幅超过2度（4个满月）的影像，以NGC 6188的估计距离来换算，大约涵盖150多光年的区域。

明日的图片: open solstice