在ngc1097的怀抱中
(原标题: In the Arms of NGC 1097)
2022-11-16
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螺旋星系ngc1097在南方的天空中闪耀，距离我们大约4500万光年，位于炽热的天炉座。在这张彩色的星系肖像中，它的蓝色旋臂上点缀着粉红色的恒星形成区域。它们似乎包裹着一个小的伴星星系，在中央右上方，距离螺旋的发光核心大约4万光年。不过，这并不是NGC 1097唯一的独特之处。这个非常深的曝光暗示了微弱的，神秘的喷流，看起来远远超出了蓝色的臂。事实上，在ngc1097的光学图像中最终识别出了四个微弱的喷流。喷流沿着以星系核为中心的X形轨迹运动，但很可能不是起源于那里。相反，它们可能是化石恒星流，是古代大螺旋中一个小得多的星系被捕获和破坏后留下的痕迹。作为塞弗特星系，ngc1097的核心还拥有一个超大质量黑洞。
查看原文解释
Spiral galaxy NGC 1097 shines in southern skies, about 45 million light-years away in the heated constellation Fornax. Its blue spiral arms are mottled with pinkish star forming regions in this colorful galaxy portrait. They seem to have wrapped around a small companion galaxy above and right of center, about 40,000 light-years from the spiral's luminous core. That's not NGC 1097's only peculiar feature, though. This very deep exposure hints of faint, mysterious jets, seen to extend well beyond the bluish arms. In fact, four faint jets are ultimately recognized in optical images of NGC 1097. The jets trace an X centered on the galaxy's nucleus, but probably don't originate there. Instead, they could be fossil star streams, trails left over from the capture and disruption of a much smaller galaxy in the large spiral's ancient past. A Seyfert galaxy, NGC 1097's nucleus also harbors a supermassive black hole.
© Mike Selby