Pressemeddelelse
Et flammende drama af stjernefødsel og -død
27. november 2013
Den Store Magellanske Sky er en af de galakser, der ligger tættest på vores egen. Astronomer har nu brugt ESOs kraftfulde Very Large Telescope til at udforske en af den mindre kendte regioner. Dette nye billede viser skyer af gas og støv, hvor varme nye stjerner fødes og omdanner deres omgivelser til mærkelige figurer. Dette billede viser dog også effekterne efter stjerners død - filamenter der skabes af en supernovaeksplosion.
I en afstand på 160.000 lysår (eso1311) ligger en af vores tætte galaksenaboer den Store Magellanske Sky i stjernebilledet Dorado (Sværdfisken). Der dannes aktivt nye stjerner i områder, der er så klare, at nogle endda kan ses med det blotte øje fra Jorden, dette gælder f.eks. Taranteltågen (eso1033). Dette nye billede der er taget med ESOs Very Large Teleskope på Paranal-observatoriet i Chile, undersøger et område kaldet NGC 2035 (til højre), der nogle gange kaldes ved sit kælenavn Dragehovedtågen.
NGC 2035 er en HII region - også kaldet en emissionståge. Den består af skyer af gas der gløder på grund af den energirige stråling, der udsendes fra unge stjerner. Denne stråling flår elektronerne væk fra atomerne inde i skyen, og når de rekombinerer med andre atomer frigiver de lys. Inde i gassen er mørke klumper af støv, der absorberer snarere end udsender lys, hvilket skaber lange baner af mørke figurer langs stjernetågen.
Filamentformerne i venstre side af billedet, er ikke et resultat af stjernefødsel, men rettere stjernedød. De blev skabt af en af de mest voldelige begivenheder, der kan forekomme i universet - en supernovaeksplosion [1]. Disse eksplosioner er så klare, at de ofte for en kort tid, overstråler hele deres hjemgalakse, før de falmer over flere uger eller måneder (se også eso1315 og potw1323a).
Når vi kigger på dette billede, er det måske svært at begribe, hvor store disse skyer er, men de er altså flere hundrede lysår på tværs. Og de ligger ikke i vores egen galakse, men langt udenfor. Den Store Magellanske Sky er enorm, men når den sammenlignes med vores egen galakse, har den en meget beskeden udstrækning, kun på omkring 14.000 lysår - ti gange mindre end Mælkevejen.
Dette billede blev taget ved brug af FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph instrumentet der er fastsat på ESOs Very Large Telescope, der ligger på Paranal-observatoriet i Chile. Billedet er den del af ESOs Cosmic Gems projektet [2].
Noter
[1] Efterladenskaberne fra den supernovaeksplosion der kan ses i dette billede kaldes SNR 0536-67.6.
[2] ESO Cosmic Gems programme er et initiativ, der forsøger at tage billeder af nogle interessante, spændende eller æstetiske objekter med ESOs teleskoper, med uddannelses- og formidlingsformål. Dette projekt bruger observationstider på teleskoperne, der ikke kan bruges til videnskabelige observationer. Al den data der samles kan måske også bruges videnskabeligt og er gjort tilgængeligt til forskere igennem ESOs videnskabsarkiv.
Mere information
ESO, det Europæiske Syd Observatorium, er den mest fremtrædende internationale astronomi-organisation i Europa og verdens mest produktive astronomiske observatorium. ESO har i dag følgende 14 medlemslande: Belgien, Danmark, Finland, Frankrig, Holland, Italien, Portugal, Schweiz og Storbritannien, Spanien, Sverige, Tjekkiet, Tyskland og Østrig. Flere lande har udtrykt interesse i medlemskab. ESO’s aktiviteter er fokuseret på design, konstruktion og drift af jordbaserede observationsfaciliteter for astronomi for at muliggøre vigtige videnskabelige opdagelser. ESO spiller også en ledende rolle for at fremme og organisere samarbejdet inden for astronomisk forskning. I Chile driver ESO tre unikke observatorier i verdensklasse: La Silla, Paranal og Chajnantor. På Paranal driver ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT), der er verdens mest avancerede astronomiske observatorium til observationer i synligt lys. ESO er den europæiske partner i et revolutionerede astronomisk teleskop kaldet ALMA, det største igangværende astronomiske projekt. ESO planlægger i øjeblikket et 42 meter optisk/nær-infrarødt teleskop kaldet European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), der vil blive ”verdens største øje mod himlen”.
Links
Kontakter
Richard Hook
ESO Public Information Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6655
Mobil: +49 151 1537 3591
E-mail: rhook@eso.org
Ole J. Knudsen (Pressekontakt Danmark)
ESOs formidlingsnetværk
og Aarhus Space Centre, Aarhus Universitet
Aarhus, Danmark
Tel: +45 8715 5597
E-mail: eson-denmark@eso.org
Om pressemeddelelsen
Pressemeddelelse nr.: | eso1348da |
Navn: | NGC 2035 |
Type: | Local Universe : Nebula : Type : Star Formation |
Facility: | Very Large Telescope |
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