Pressemeddelelse
En stjernehob i Kølens kølvand
21. maj 2014
Dette farverige nye billede, taget med MPG/ESO 2.2 meter-teleskopet ved ESOs La Silla-observatorium i Chile, viser stjernehoben NGC 3590. Stjernerne skinner klart foran en dramatisk baggrund af mørke støvklumper og farverige skyer af glødende gas. Denne lille samling stjerner giver astronomerne fingerpeg om stjernernes dannelse og udvikling – samt vink om strukturen af galaksens spiralarme.
NGC 3590 er en lille åben stjernehob omkring 7.500 lysår fra Jorden i stjernebilledet Kølen. Den er en samling af flere snese stjerner omtrent 35 millioner år gamle, der er bundet sammen af tyngdekraften.
Hoben er ikke blot smuk, men også meget nyttig for astronomer. Ved at studere denne hob – og dens nabo hobe – kan astronomerne undersøge egenskaberne af vores galakses spiralformede skive, Mælkevejen. NGC 3590 ligger i den største del af en enkelt spiralarm, der kan ses fra Jordens beliggenhed i galaksen: Kølens spiralelement.
Mælkevejens spiralarme består af lange strømme af gas og stjerner, der strækker ud fra galaksens centrum. Disse arme – to store stjernefyldte arme og to mindre befolkede små arme –har fået navn fra de stjernebilleder hvori de ses klarest [1]. Kølens spiralelement ses fra Jorden som et tæt befolket himmelområde i den mindre Kølen-Skytten spiral arm.
Armens navn er meget passende – Kølen. Disse arme er faktisk bølger af sammenklumpede stjerner og gas, der suser gennem galaksens skive og derved sætter stjernedannelse i gang med hobe som eksempelvis NGC 3590 som følge i deres kølvand. Afstandene til forskellige dele af armene kan findes ved at finde og studere unge stjerner i grupper som NGC 3590. Disse afstande fortæller om armens struktur.
En typisk åben stjernehob kan indeholde fra nogle snese stjerner til flere tusinde, og kan give astronomer fingerpeg stjernernes udvikling. Stjernerne i en hob som NGC 3590 er blevet dannet på nogenlunde det samme tidspunkt fra den samme gassky, og derfor er disse åbne hobe gode steder at afprøve teorier om stjerne-dannelse og -udvikling.
Dette billed fra Wide Field Imager (WFI) på MPG/ESO 2.2-meter-teleskopet ved La Silla-observatoriet, viser hoben med omliggende gasskyer, der skinner i orange og røde nuancer takket være stråling fra de varme nabo stjerner. WFIs store synsfelt har også fanget et enormt antal baggrundsstjerner.
Flere observationer med forskellige filtre er blevet brugt til at danne dette billede og fange motivets forskellige farver. Billedet er sammensat af billeder fra den optiske og infrarøde del af spektret, samt billeder optaget med et særligt filter, der kun samler lyset fra glødende brint gas.
Noter
[1] De fire arme hedder: Kølen-Skytten (Carina-Sagittarius), Vinkelmåleren (Norma), Skjoldet-Kentauren (Scutum-Centaurus) og Perseus.
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
- Billeder af MPG/ESO 2.2 meter-teleskopet
- Billeder taget med MPG/ESO 2.2 meter-teleskopet
- Billeder af La Silla-observatoriet
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.: | eso1416da |
| Navn: | NGC 3590 |
| Type: | Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Open |
| Facility: | MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope |
| Instruments: | WFI |
Billeder
Videoer
tekst kun tilgængelig på engelsk
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