NGC 1055 的肖像
Portrait of NGC 1055

來源:Dave Doctor|發表日期:2024-03-15
美麗的大螺旋星系 NGC 1055 是一個小星系群中的主要成員,這個星系群距離令人生畏的鯨魚座僅 6000 萬光年。從側面看,這個宇宙島的跨度超過 10 萬光年,比我們的銀河系還要大一點。在 NGC 1055 這幅宇宙畫卷中,五顏六色的尖頂恆星位於前景,遠在銀河系內。而那些粉紅色的恆星形成區則散佈在這個遙遠星系薄薄的盤面上蜿蜒的塵埃通道中。在更遙遠的背景星系的襯托下,深層影像還顯示出一個方形光環,它遠遠地延伸到 NGC 1055 中央隆起和盤面的上方和下方。光環本身佈滿了微弱而狹窄的結構,可能是大約 100 億年前被大螺旋星系打亂的衛星星系產生的混合和分散的碎片。
原文:Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 1055 is a dominant member of a small galaxy group a mere 60 million light-years away toward the aquatically intimidating constellation Cetus. Seen edge-on, the island universe spans over 100,000 light-years, a little larger than our own Milky Way galaxy. The colorful, spiky stars decorating this cosmic portrait of NGC 1055 are in the foreground, well within the Milky Way. But the telltale pinkish star forming regions are scattered through winding dust lanes along the distant galaxy's thin disk. With a smattering of even more distant background galaxies, the deep image also reveals a boxy halo that extends far above and below the central bulge and disk of NGC 1055. The halo itself is laced with faint, narrow structures, and could represent the mixed and spread out debris from a satellite galaxy disrupted by the larger spiral some 10 billion years ago.
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