Astronomy Picture of the Day—心和魂星云

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2019March 8

The Heart and Soul Nebulas

Image Credit & Copyright: Mario Zauner

Explanation:Is the heart and soul of our Galaxy located in Cassiopeia? Possibly not, butthat is where two bright emission nebulas nicknamed Heart and Soul can befound. The Heart Nebula, officially dubbed IC 1805 and visible in the featured image on the bottom right, has a shape reminiscent of a classical heart symbol.The Soul Nebula is officially designated IC 1871 and is visible on the upperleft. Both nebulas shine brightly in the red light of energized hydrogen. Alsoshown in this three-color montage is light emitted from sulfur, shown inyellow, and oxygen, shown in blue. Several young open clusters of stars arevisible near the nebula centers. Light takes about 6,000 years to reach us from these nebulas, which together span roughly 300 light years. Studies of starsand clusters like those found in the Heart and Soul Nebulas have focused on how massive stars form and how they affect their environment.

心和魂星云

解释：银河系的“心”和“魂”是位于仙后座吗？当然不是，但是人们将那里的两个明亮星云分别昵称为“心与魂”。心状星云，正式名称为IC1805，在这幅影像的底部右面可以看到，具有经典的心形形状。灵魂星云正式名称为IC 1871，在这幅影像的左上方可以看到。在这幅伪彩色影像中，显示硫辐射的光用黄色表示，氧辐射的光用蓝色表示。在星云的中心可以看到数个年轻的疏散星团。来自这些星云的光需要约6000年才能到达我们这里，这两个星云覆盖约300光年范围。