红方星云
(原标题: The Red Square Nebula)
2021-09-26
浏览次数: 33
一颗圆形恒星是如何形成这个方形星云的？没有人能确定。这颗圆形恒星被称为MWC 922，可能是多星系统的一部分，出现在红场星云的中心。这张特色图片结合了加州帕洛马山上的黑尔望远镜和夏威夷莫纳克亚山上的凯克-2望远镜的红外曝光。方形星云的一个主要的起源假说是，中心恒星或其他恒星在发展的后期以某种方式排出了气体锥。对于MWC 922来说，这些锥恰好结合成直角，从侧面可以看到。支持圆锥体假说的证据包括图像中可能沿着圆锥体壁运行的径向辐条。研究人员推测，从另一个角度来看，这些锥状体看起来与超新星1987A的巨大环相似，这可能表明MWC 922中的一颗恒星有一天可能会爆炸成类似的超新星。
查看原文解释
How did a round star create this square nebula? No one is quite sure. The round star, known as MWC 922 and possibly part of a multiple star system, appears at the center of the Red Square Nebula. The featured image combines infrared exposures from the Hale Telescope on Mt. Palomar in California, and the Keck-2 Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. A leading progenitor hypothesis for the square nebula is that the central star or stars somehow expelled cones of gas during a late developmental stage. For MWC 922, these cones happen to incorporate nearly right angles and be visible from the sides. Supporting evidence for the cone hypothesis includes radial spokes in the image that might run along the cone walls. Researchers speculate that the cones viewed from another angle would appear similar to the gigantic rings of supernova 1987A, possibly indicating that a star in MWC 922 might one day itself explode in a similar supernova.
© Peter Tuthill (Sydney U.) & James Lloyd (Cornell U.)