http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100125.html
The Magellanic Stream
Credit: David L. Nidever et al., NRAO/AUI/NSF & A. Mellinger, LAB Survey, Parkes Obs., Westerbork Obs., Arecibo Obs.
Explanation: Spanning the sky toward the majestic Clouds of Magellan is an unusual stream of gas: the Magellanic Stream. The origin of this gas remains unknown but likely holds a clue to the origin and fate of our Milky Way's most famous satellite galaxies: the LMC and the SMC. Until recently, two leading genesis hypotheses have been considered: that the stream was created by gas stripped off these galaxies as they passed through the halo of our Milky Way, or that the stream was created by the differential gravitational tug of the Milky Way. Recently, however, wide angle radio images -- including those from the Byrd Green Bank Telescope -- have shown that the Magellanic Stream is longer and older than previously thought, perhaps as old as 2.5 billion years. These observations bolster a third possible origin for the stream -- that the Large and Small Magellanic Cloud galaxies once passed so close to each other that gravitational tides triggered a burst of star formation that left the stream. Pictured above digitally superposed on a recently-completed all-sky image in visible light, the radio emission of Magellanic stream is shown in false color pink extending across the sky and ending at the two Magellanic galaxies on the lower right.
http://www.skylook.org/apod/ap100125.html
麦哲伦流
影像提供: David L. Nidever et al., NRAO/AUI/NSF & A. Mellinger, LAB Survey, Parkes Obs., Westerbork Obs., Arecibo Obs.
说明: 壮观的麦哲伦星云后方连着一条不寻常的气流─麦哲伦流(the Magellanic Stream),著名的大麦哲伦星云(LMC)以及小麦哲论星云(SMC)是我们银河系的两个卫星星系,其起源与未来命运或许可从上述气流来源来看出端倪。目前有两套理论用以解释这气流的起源,第一种认为麦哲伦星系在穿过银河系 银晕(Halo)时,有大量气体被剥掉;另外一种说法则是认为受到银河系不同大小的引力拉扯下,所造成的结果。最近透过广视角无线电波段影像(包含了伯德绿堤望远镜, Byrd Green Bank Telescope),显示麦哲伦流比过去所认为的还有年老与宽广,大概是25亿年。这观测结果引出第三者可能性,就是大小麦哲伦星云可能一度过于接近彼此,而受到重力潮汐力导致在恒星诞生过程中产生喷流。上面这张可见光的全天影像中,无线电波段的麦哲伦流以粉红色假色显示,可见其终止于右下角的大小麦哲伦星系。 |