NGC 6888: 蛾眉星云
NGC 6888: The Crescent Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Joe Navara, Glenn Clouder, Russell Discombe
Explanation: NGC 6888, also known as the Crescent Nebula, is a about 25 light-years across blown by winds from its central, bright, massive star. A triumvirate of astroimagers ( Joe, Glenn, Russell) created this sharp portrait of the cosmic bubble. Their telescopic collaboration collected over 30 hours of narrow band image data isolating light from hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The oxygen atoms produce the blue-green hue that seems to enshroud the detailed folds and filaments. Visible within the nebula, NGC 6888’s central star is classified as a Wolf-Rayet star (WR 136). The star is shedding its outer envelope in a strong stellar wind, ejecting the equivalent of the Sun’s mass every 10,000 years. The nebula’s complex structures are likely the result of this strong wind interacting with material ejected in an earlier phase. Burning fuel at a prodigious rate and near the end of its stellar life this star should ultimately go out with a bang in a spectacular supernova explosion. Found in the nebula rich constellation Cygnus, NGC 6888 is about 5,000 light-years away.
Tomorrow’s picture: The devil didn’t do it.
NGC 6888: 蛾眉星云
影像提供与版权: Joe Navara, Glenn Clouder, Russell Discombe
说明: 宽25光年的NGC 6888又名为蛾眉星云，是其中心一颗大质量亮星的恒星风所吹出的气泡。上面这幅呈现此宇宙气泡的清晰影像，是由天文摄影三者组（Joe、 Glenn及 Russell），贡献了超过30小时的望远镜时间，在窄氢及氧原子辐射波段所拍摄。其中，产生蓝绿色泽的氧原子，看似包覆在细致的皱褶与丝状物之外。星云内可清楚可见的NGC 6888中心星，是一颗沃尔夫-瑞叶恒星 (WR 136)，它以强烈恒星风的形式抛出外层气壳，每10,000年遗失大约一个太阳的质量。星云复杂的构造，很可能是强烈的恒星风和更早期抛出的物质交互作用之产物。这颗接近生命末期的恒星，以惊人的速率燃烧核燃料，最后应会以壮观的超新星爆炸终结其一生。位在星云拥挤的天鹅座内之NGC 6888，离我们大约5,000光年远。
明日的图片: The devil didn’t do it.
