Casulo vermelho encerra estrelas jovens
Na Terra os casulos estão associados a vida nova. Também há "casulos" no espaço, mas em vez de protegerem larvas à medida que se estas transformam em borboletas, são os locais de nascimentos de novas estrelas.
A nuvem vermelha que vemos na imagem, obtida com o instrumento EFOSC2 montado no New Technology Telescope do ESO, é um exemplo perfeito de uma destas regiões de formação estelar. É uma imagem de uma nuvem chamada RCW 88, situada a cerca de dez mil anos-luz de distância e com uma dimensão de cerca de nove anos-luz. Não é feita de seda, como o casulo de um bicho-da-seda, mas sim de hidrogénio gasoso brilhante que rodeia as estrelas recém-formadas. As novas estrelas formam-se de nuvens de hidrogénio à medida que estas colapsam sob o efeito da sua própria gravidade. Algumas das estrelas mais desenvolvidas e que brilham já intensamente, podem ser vistas a espreitar por entre a nuvem.
Estas estrelas jovens quentes são muito energéticas e emitem enormes quantidades de radiação ultravioleta, o que faz com que os electrões se libertem dos átomos de hidrogénio da nuvem, deixando apenas os núcleos positivamente carregados - os protões. À medida que os electrões são recapturados pelos protões, emitem radiação H-alfa, a qual tem um brilho vermelho bastante característico.
Observar o céu através de um filtro H-alfa é o modo mais simples dos astrónomos descobrirem estas regiões de formação estelar. Um filtro H-alfa foi um dos quatro filtros utilizados para produzir esta imagem.
Créditos:ESO
Sobre a imagem
| Id: | potw1231a |
| Língua: | pt |
| Tipo: | Observação |
| Data de divulgação: | 30 de Julho de 2012 às 10:00 |
| Tamanho: | 937 x 914 px |
Sobre o objeto
| Nome: | RCW 88 |
| Tipo: | Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Star Formation |
| Distância: | 10000 anos-luz |
| Constellation: | Circinus |
Formatos de imagens
Papéis de parede
Coordenadas
| Position (RA): | 15 7 7.89 |
| Position (Dec): | -57° 48' 18.28" |
| Field of view: | 3.76 x 3.67 arcminutes |
| Orientação: | O norte está a 0.0° à esquerda da vertical |
Cores e filtros
| Banda | Telescópio |
|---|---|
| Óptico B | New Technology Telescope EFOSC2 |
| Óptico V | New Technology Telescope EFOSC2 |
| Óptico R | New Technology Telescope EFOSC2 |
| Óptico H-alpha | New Technology Telescope EFOSC2 |
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