NGC 6164 ：龍蛋
NGC 6164: A Dragon's Egg
來源：Daniel Stern｜發表日期：2025-04-24
美麗的發射星雲 NGC 6164 是由一顆罕見、炙熱、明亮的 O 型恆星形成的，其質量大約是太陽的 40 倍。從宇宙雲的中心看去，這顆恆星只有三四百萬年的歷史。再過三四百萬年，這顆大質量恆星將在超新星爆炸中結束自己的生命。星雲的跨度約為 4 光年，本身具有雙極對稱性。這使它在外觀上類似於更常見和更熟悉的行星狀星雲--垂死的類太陽恆星周圍的氣體罩。與許多行星狀星雲一樣，NGC 6164 也被發現有一個廣泛而微弱的光暈，這是該區域的深層影像所顯示的。光環中的物質向周圍的星際介質擴充套件，很可能來自於 O 星早期的活躍階段。這幅絢麗的望遠鏡檢視是大量窄波段影像資料與周圍星域寬波段資料的合成，窄波段影像突出顯示了紅色的氫原子氣體和綠色的氧原子氣體。NGC 6164 也被稱為龍蛋星雲，位於 4200 光年之外的直角南諾爾馬星座。
原文：Beautiful emission nebula NGC 6164 was created by a rare, hot, luminous O-type star, some 40 times as massive as the Sun. Seen at the center of the cosmic cloud, the star is a mere 3 to 4 million years old. In another three to four million years the massive star will end its life in a supernova explosion. Spanning around 4 light-years, the nebula itself has a bipolar symmetry. That makes it similar in appearance to more common and familiar planetary nebulae - the gaseous shrouds surrounding dying sun-like stars. Also like many planetary nebulae, NGC 6164 has been found to have an extensive, faint halo, revealed in this deep image of the region. Expanding into the surrounding interstellar medium, the material in the halo is likely from an earlier active phase of the O star. This gorgeous telescopic view is a composite of extensive narrow-band image data, highlighting glowing atomic hydrogen gas in red and oxygen in greenish hues, with broad-band data for the surrounding starfield. Also known as the Dragon's Egg nebula, NGC 6164 is 4,200 light-years away in the right-angled southern constellation of Norma.
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