NGC 6960 ：女巫的掃帚星雲
NGC 6960: The Witch's Broom Nebula
來源：Brian Meyers｜發表日期：2025-10-01
一萬年前，在有人類歷史記載的黎明到來之前，夜空中會突然出現一道新的光芒，幾周後就會消失。 今天，我們知道這道光來自一顆超新星，也就是爆炸的恆星，並將不斷膨脹的碎片雲記錄為超新星殘留物--面紗星雲。 這個銳利的望遠鏡檢視以面紗星雲的西部為中心，這個星雲被編入 NGC 6960 星系，但不太正式地被稱為女巫的掃帚星雲。 星際衝擊波在大爆炸中被炸出，穿過太空，捲起並激發了星際物質。透過窄帶濾光片成像，這些發光的細絲就像薄片上的長條漣漪，幾乎可以從邊緣看到，非常清楚地分成氫原子氣體（紅色）和氧原子氣體（藍綠色）。完整的超新星殘骸位於大約 1400 光年之外的天鵝座。這個 "女巫掃帚 "實際上跨越了大約 35 光年。畫面中的亮星是天鵝座 52 號星，在暗處用肉眼就能看到，但與這顆古老的超新星殘骸無關。
原文：Ten thousand years ago, before the dawn of recorded human history, a new light would suddenly have appeared in the night sky and faded after a few weeks. Today we know this light was from a supernova, or exploding star, and record the expanding debris cloud as the Veil Nebula, a supernova remnant. This sharp telescopic view is centered on a western segment of the Veil Nebula cataloged as NGC 6960 but less formally known as the Witch's Broom Nebula. Blasted out in the cataclysmic explosion, an interstellar shock wave plows through space sweeping up and exciting interstellar material. Imaged with narrow band filters, the glowing filaments are like long ripples in a sheet seen almost edge on, remarkably well separated into atomic hydrogen (red) and oxygen (blue-green) gas. The complete supernova remnant lies about 1400 light-years away towards the constellation Cygnus. This Witch's Broom actually spans about 35 light-years. The bright star in the frame is 52 Cygni, visible with the unaided eye from a dark location but unrelated to the ancient supernova remnant.
※ 本文由萌芽機器人自動轉貼自每日一天文圖（Astronomy Picture of the Day，APOD），原文為英文，正體中文是透過 DeepL 翻譯及 OpenCC 進行自動處理，內容僅供參考，若有任何錯誤之處還請見諒！
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