Astronomy Picture of the Day——巫婆头星云

Discover the cosmos! Each day a differentimage or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a briefexplanation written by a professional astronomer.

The Witch Head Nebula

Image Credit & Copyright: Digitized SkySurvey (POSS II)

Explanation: Double, double toil andtrouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble .... maybe Macbeth should haveconsulted the Witch Head Nebula. A frighteningly shaped reflection nebula, thiscosmic crone is about 800 light-years away though. Its malevolent visage seemsto glare toward nearby bright star Rigel in Orion, just off the left edge ofthis frame. More formally known as IC 2118, the interstellar cloud of dust andgas is nearly 70 light-years across, its dust grains reflecting Rigel'sstarlight. In this composite portrait, the nebula's color is caused not only bythe star's intense bluish light but because the dust grains scatter blue lightmore efficiently than red. The same physical process causes Earth's daytime skyto appear blue, although the scatterers in planet Earth's atmosphere aremolecules of nitrogen and oxygen.

巫婆头星云

解释:

双重的磨难与烦恼,燃烧的火焰,大锅里翻滚的水泡……

也许麦克白应该咨询巫婆头星云。它是一个外形令人惊恐的反射星云,距离我们大约800光年。它恶毒的面容似乎怒视着猎户座中最亮的参宿七,而参宿七恰好位于图像的最左边。巫婆头星云宽约70光年,正式名称为IC 2118,它的尘埃颗粒反射参宿七的光芒。在图像中,巫婆头星云的颜色不仅由参宿七强烈的蓝光所引起,更是因为它自身的尘埃颗粒有效地散射了蓝光。

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