鉛筆星雲超新星衝擊波
The Pencil Nebula Supernova Shock Wave

來源:Helge Buesing|發表日期:2024-02-23
這股超新星衝擊波以每小時 50 多萬公里的速度穿過星際空間。在清晰細緻的色彩合成圖中,它的細長、明亮、編織的細絲居中並向上移動,實際上是幾乎從側面看到的宇宙發光氣體片中的長波紋。約翰-赫歇爾爵士在 19 世紀 40 年代發現了這個看起來很狹窄的星雲,它有時也被稱為 "赫歇爾之光"(Herschel's Ray)。這個星雲被編入 NGC 2736 星系,它尖尖的外形使它有了一個現代流行的名字--鉛筆星雲。鉛筆星雲距離地球約 800 光年。雖然它有將近 5 光年長,但它只是維拉超新星殘餘的一小部分。巨大的維拉殘餘物本身直徑約為 100 光年,是一顆恆星不斷膨脹的碎片雲,大約在 11000 年前發生爆炸。最初,人們看到的鉛筆狀星雲的衝擊波部分以每小時數百萬公里的速度移動,但現在速度已經大大減慢,捲起了周圍的星際物質。
原文:This supernova shock wave plows through interstellar space at over 500,000 kilometers per hour. Centered and moving upward in the sharply detailed color composite its thin, bright, braided filaments are actually long ripples in a cosmic sheet of glowing gas seen almost edge-on. Discovered in the 1840s by Sir John Herschel, the narrow-looking nebula is sometimes known as Herschel's Ray. Cataloged as NGC 2736, its pointed appearance suggests its modern popular name, the Pencil Nebula. The Pencil Nebula is about 800 light-years away. Nearly 5 light-years long it represents only a small part of the Vela supernova remnant though. The enormous Vela remnant itself is around 100 light-years in diameter, the expanding debris cloud of a star that was seen to explode about 11,000 years ago. Initially, the section of the shock wave seen as the Pencil nebula was moving at millions of kilometers per hour but has slowed considerably, sweeping up surrounding interstellar material.
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