三尖峰后方的银河

三尖峰后方的银河

Milky Way Behind Three Merlons
Image Credit & Copyright: Donato Lioce; Text: Natalia Lewandowska (SUNY Oswego)

Explanation: To some, they look like battlements, here protecting us against the center of the Milky Way. The Three Merlons, also called the Three Peaks of Lavaredo, stand tall today because they are made of dense dolomite rock which has better resisted erosion than surrounding softer rock. They formed about 250 million years ago and so are comparable in age with one of the great extinctions of life on Earth. A leading hypothesis is that this great extinction was triggered by an asteroid about 10-km across, larger in size than Mount Everest, impacting the Earth. Humans have gazed up at the stars in the Milky Way and beyond for centuries, making these battlefield-like formations, based in the Sexten Dolomites, a popular place for current and ancient astronomers.

Tomorrow’s picture: open space

三尖峰后方的银河
影像提供与版权: Donato Lioce; 文稿: Natalia Lewandowska (SUNY Oswego)

说明: 有人认为这些酷似雉堞的山峰，会保护我们免受银河系中心的影响。亦称为拉瓦雷多三尖峰的三尖峰，之所以至今仍然高耸，则是因为组成它们的高密度白云岩，比周围的较软岩石更耐侵蚀。它们大约形成于2亿5000万年前，与地球上最近一次的生物大灭绝事件的年代相当。最可信的假说认为，这次大灭绝是因为大约10公里宽的小行星（比圣母峰大）撞击地球所造成的。数世纪以来，人类不断在此仰望银河系的繁星及更后方的恒星，让这些城垜般、隶属于意大利多罗迈兹山脉的群峰，成为当今和古天文学家观星的热门地点。 （merlon 雉堞、垛墙；the Three Merlons 三尖峰）

明日的图片: open space