螺旋星系NGC 1512 ：廣角視野
Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: Wide Field
來源：Daniel Stern｜發表日期：2026-02-04
大多數星系都沒有環狀結構——為何這個星系卻擁有三道星環？首先，靠近NGC 1512 中心區域的星環（在此圖中難以辨識）是核環，其內部新生的恆星正發出耀眼光芒。 次外側的星塵環呈現紅藍雙色，雖反直覺地被稱為內環。該環連線了橫貫星系的彌散狀中央星系棒兩端。 在這張廣角影像最外緣，可見一片參差結構，可視為外環。該外環呈現螺旋狀，其間散佈著明亮的藍星團。所有這些環狀結構被認為受NGC 1512 自身引力不對稱性的影響，經歷著稱為世俗演化的漫長過程。這張特色影像由智利深空天文臺的望遠鏡於上月拍攝。
原文：Most galaxies don't have any rings -- why does this galaxy have three? To begin, a ring that's near NGC 1512's center -- and so hard to see here -- is the nuclear ring which glows brightly with recently formed stars. Next out is a ring of stars and dust appearing both red and blue, called, counter-intuitively, the inner ring. This inner ring connects ends of a diffuse central bar of stars that runs horizontally across the galaxy. Farthest out in this wide field image is a ragged structure that might be considered an outer ring. This outer ring appears spiral-like and is dotted with clusters of bright blue stars. All these ring structures are thought to be affected by NGC 1512's own gravitational asymmetries in a drawn-out process called secular evolution. The featured image was captured last month from a telescope at Deep Sky Chile in Chile.
※ 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。