CTB 1 ：髓狀星雲
CTB 1: The Medulla Nebula
發表日期：2026-01-19
是什麼力量驅動著這個奇特的星雲？CTB 1 是約一萬年前仙后座方向一顆巨星爆炸後留下的膨脹氣體殼層。這顆恆星可能在核心區域耗盡了能透過核聚變產生穩定壓力的元素後發生爆炸。 這顆超新星殘骸因形似大腦被稱為"髓狀星雲"，至今仍在可見光中發光——這是它與約束性星際氣體碰撞產生的熱量所致。但星雲為何同時在X 射線波段發光，仍是研究課題。一種假說認為，爆炸產生了高能脈衝星，其高速外向噴流為星雲提供能量。 循此線索，科學家在射電波段發現一顆脈衝星，其速度超過每秒 1000 公里，似乎正是超新星爆炸的產物。儘管髓狀星雲在天空中佔據與滿月相當的面積，但其光度極其微弱——這張特色影像需在美國得克薩斯州使用小型望遠鏡進行 84 小時曝光才能呈現。
原文：What powers this unusual nebula? CTB 1 is the expanding gas shell that was left when a massive star toward the constellation of Cassiopeia exploded about 10,000 years ago. The star likely detonated when it ran out of elements, near its core, that could create stabilizing pressure with nuclear fusion. The resulting supernova remnant, nicknamed the Medulla Nebula for its brain-like shape, still glows in visible light because of the heat generated by its collision with confining interstellar gas. Why the nebula also glows in X-ray light, though, remains a topic of research. One hypothesis holds that an energetic pulsar was created and powers the nebula with a fast outwardly moving wind. Following this lead, a pulsar was found in radio waves that appears to have been expelled by the supernova explosion at over 1000 kilometers per second. Although the Medulla Nebula appears as large as a full moon, it is so faint that it took 84-hours of exposure with a small telescope in Texas, USA, to create the featured image.
※ 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！
關於每日一天文圖：每日一天文圖網站是美國國家航空暨太空總署與密西根理工大學提供的服務，網站每天提供一張影像或圖片，並由天文學家撰寫扼要說明其特別之處。