Pressemeddelelse
Tilfældigt møde danner himelsk diamantring
9. april 2014
Astronomer har brugt ESOs Very Large Telescope (VLT) i Chile til at fange dette iøjenfaldende billede af den planetariske tåge PN A66 33 – sædvanligvis kendt som Abel 33. Denne flotte blå boble blev dannet, da en aldrende stjerne kastede sine yderste lag ud i rummet. Tågen står tilfældigvis på linje med en forgrundsstjerne, så det ligner en diamantring. Denne kosmiske ædelsten er usædvanligt symmetrisk og fremstår næsten helt rund på himlen.
De fleste stjerner, der er omtrent lige så tunge som Solen, ender deres liv som hvide dværgstjerner – små, meget tætte og varme legemer, der langsomt køler af over flere milliarder år. På vej mod dette afsluttende livsstadie kaster stjernerne deres atmosfærer ud i rummet og skaber planetariske tåger, der ses som glødende gasskyer, som omkranser den lysstærke stjernerest.
Dette billede, der er taget med ESOs Very Large Telescope (VLT), viser den bemærkelsesværdigt runde tåge Abell 33, der ligger 2500 lysår fra Jorden. Det er usædvanligt, at disse objekter er perfekt runde. Sædvanligvis er der noget, der forstyrer deres symmetri og planetariske tåger har derfor typisk uregelmæssige former [1].
På tågens kant ligger den iøjenfaldende klare stjerne, der skaber en smuk illusion i dette VLT-billede. Det er et tilfældigt sammentræf, af stjernen og tågen ses i samme retning. Stjernen, der hedder HD 83535, ligger foran tågen, omkring halvejs til Abel 33 fra Jorden, lige på det rigtige sted for at gøre dette skue endnu flottere. Sammen danner HD 83535 og Abell 33 en funklende diamantring.
Den sidste rest af Abell 33s oprindelige stjerne, der er på vej til at blive en hvid dværg, kan ses lidt væk fra tågens midtpunkt som en lille hvid perle. Den er stadig klar – mere lysstærk end vores egen stjerne, Solen – og den udsender ultraviolet lys nok til at få boblen af udkastet atmosfære til at gløde [2].
Abell 33 er blot et af de 86 objekter i astronomen George Abells katalog over planetariske tåger fra 1966. Abell gennemsøgte også himlen grundigt for galaksehobe og lavede et katalog med mere end4000 hobe på både den nordlige og sydlige del af himlen.
Dette billede er lavet med data fra FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph (FORS) instrumentet, der er monteret på VLT. Disse data blev opsamlet som en del af ESO Cosmic Gems (kosmiske ædelsten) program[3].
Noter
[1] Det kan fx være den måde stjernen roterer på, eller hvis stjernen er medlem af et dobbelt eller multipelt stjernesystem.
[2] På dette meget skarpe billede ser centralstjernen ud til at være dobbelt. Det vides ikke, om det er et rigtigt dobbeltstjernesystem eller om de to stjerner bare tilfældigvis ses i samme retning.
[3] ESOs Cosmic Gems-program,< http://www.eso.org> er et formidlingsinitiativ, der ved hjælp af ESOs teleskoper producerer interessante, fascinerende eller visuelt tiltalende billeder til brug for uddannelse og formidling. Programmet benytter sig af teleskoptid, der ikke kan bruges til videnskabelige observationer. Alle de indsamlede data kan dog være egnede til videnskabelige formål og derfor er de tilgængelige for astronomer gennem ESOs videnskabelige arkiv.
Mere information
ESO er den mest fremtrædende internationale astronomi-organisation i Europa og verdens mest produktive astronomiske observatorium. ESO har i dag følgende 15 medlemslande: Belgien, Brasilien, Danmark, Finland, Frankrig, Holland, Italien, Portugal, Schweiz og Storbritannien, Spanien, Sverige, Tjekkiet, Tyskland og Østrig. ESOs aktiviteter er fokuseret på design, konstruktion og drift af jordbaserede observationsfaciliteter for at muliggøre vigtige videnskabelige opdagelser inden for astronomi. 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 samt to kortlægningsteleskoper. VISTA arbejder i infrarødt lys og er verdens største kortlægningsteleskop, mens VLT Survey Telescope (VST) er det største teleskop, der udelukkende er bygget til at kortlægge himlen 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 39 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.: | eso1412da |
| Navn: | pn a66 33 |
| Type: | Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Planetary |
| Facility: | Very Large Telescope |
| Instruments: | FORS2 |
Billeder
Videoer
Our use of Cookies
We use cookies that are essential for accessing our websites and using our services. We also use cookies to analyse, measure and improve our websites’ performance, to enable content sharing via social media and to display media content hosted on third-party platforms.
ESO Cookies Policy
The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO) is the pre-eminent intergovernmental science and technology organisation in astronomy. It carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities for astronomy.
This Cookies Policy is intended to provide clarity by outlining the cookies used on the ESO public websites, their functions, the options you have for controlling them, and the ways you can contact us for additional details.
What are cookies?
Cookies are small pieces of data stored on your device by websites you visit. They serve various purposes, such as remembering login credentials and preferences and enhance your browsing experience.
Categories of cookies we use
Essential cookies (always active): These cookies are strictly necessary for the proper functioning of our website. Without these cookies, the website cannot operate correctly, and certain services, such as logging in or accessing secure areas, may not be available; because they are essential for the website’s operation, they cannot be disabled.
Functional Cookies: These cookies enhance your browsing experience by enabling additional features and personalization, such as remembering your preferences and settings. While not strictly necessary for the website to function, they improve usability and convenience; these cookies are only placed if you provide your consent.
Analytics cookies: These cookies collect information about how visitors interact with our website, such as which pages are visited most often and how users navigate the site. This data helps us improve website performance, optimize content, and enhance the user experience; these cookies are only placed if you provide your consent. We use the following analytics cookies.
Matomo Cookies:
This website uses Matomo (formerly Piwik), an open source software which enables the statistical analysis of website visits. Matomo uses cookies (text files) which are saved on your computer and which allow us to analyze how you use our website. The website user information generated by the cookies will only be saved on the servers of our IT Department. We use this information to analyze www.eso.org visits and to prepare reports on website activities. These data will not be disclosed to third parties.
On behalf of ESO, Matomo will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage.
Matomo cookies settings:
Additional Third-party cookies on ESO websites: some of our pages display content from external providers, e.g. YouTube.
Such third-party services are outside of ESO control and may, at any time, change their terms of service, use of cookies, etc.
YouTube: Some videos on the ESO website are embedded from ESO’s official YouTube channel. We have enabled YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode, meaning that no cookies are set unless the user actively clicks on the video to play it. Additionally, in this mode, YouTube does not store any personally identifiable cookie data for embedded video playbacks. For more details, please refer to YouTube’s embedding videos information page.
Cookies can also be classified based on the following elements.
Regarding the domain, there are:
- First-party cookies, set by the website you are currently visiting. They are stored by the same domain that you are browsing and are used to enhance your experience on that site;
- Third-party cookies, set by a domain other than the one you are currently visiting.
As for their duration, cookies can be:
- Browser-session cookies, which are deleted when the user closes the browser;
- Stored cookies, which stay on the user's device for a predetermined period of time.
How to manage cookies
Cookie settings: You can modify your cookie choices for the ESO webpages at any time by clicking on the link Cookie settings at the bottom of any page.
In your browser: If you wish to delete cookies or instruct your browser to delete or block cookies by default, please visit the help pages of your browser:
Please be aware that if you delete or decline cookies, certain functionalities of our website may be not be available and your browsing experience may be affected.
You can set most browsers to prevent any cookies being placed on your device, but you may then have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit a site/page. And some services and functionalities may not work properly at all (e.g. profile logging-in, shop check out).
Updates to the ESO Cookies Policy
The ESO Cookies Policy may be subject to future updates, which will be made available on this page.
Additional information
For any queries related to cookies, please contact: pdprATesoDOTorg.
As ESO public webpages are managed by our Department of Communication, your questions will be dealt with the support of the said Department.