sdfrog 发表于 2013-1-14 14:50
The Furnace: Lying 45 million light-years away from Earth in the southern constellation of Fornax (T ...
简单翻译一下：
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope provides us this week with a spectacular image of the bright star-forming ring that surrounds the heart of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1097. In this image, the larger-scale structure of the galaxy is barely visible: its comparatively dim spiral arms, which surround its heart in a loose embrace, reach out beyond the edges of this frame.
This face-on galaxy, lying 45 million light-years away from Earth in the southern constellation of Fornax (The Furnace), is particularly attractive for astronomers. NGC 1097 is a Seyfert galaxy. Lurking at the very centre of the galaxy, a supermassive black hole 100 million times the mass of our Sun is gradually sucking in the matter around it. The area immediately around the black hole shines powerfully with radiation coming from the material falling in.
本周（这张图片于2012年12月24日公布）哈勃太空望远镜拍摄到了一张令人目眩的照片，照片的主角是环绕在棒旋星系NGC1097中心的一个光环，许多明亮的恒星正在那里诞生。在这张照片中几乎可以看到这个遥远星系的精细结构，包括它那相对暗淡的悬臂……
这个位于天炉座，距离地球4500万光年的星系一直为天文学家所关注。它一个西佛星系（参见http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A5%BF%E4%BD%9B%E6%98%9F%E7%B3%BB），星系的中心存在一个质量相当于1亿颗太阳的超大质量黑洞，由于物质被吞噬。它的周围发出了非常强烈的辐射。
The distinctive ring around the black hole is bursting with new star formation due to an inflow of material toward the central bar of the galaxy. These star-forming regions are glowing brightly thanks to emission from clouds of ionised hydrogen. The ring is around 5000 light-years across, although the spiral arms of the galaxy extend tens of thousands of light-years beyond it.
NGC 1097 is also pretty exciting for supernova hunters. The galaxy experienced three supernovae (the violent deaths of high-mass stars) in the 11-year span between 1992 and 2003. This is definitely a galaxy worth checking on a regular basis.
However, what it is really exciting about NGC 1097 is that it is not wandering alone through space. It has two small galaxy companions, which dance “the dance of stars and the dance of space” like the gracious dancer of the famous poem The Dancer by Khalil Gibran.
这个环绕黑洞的独特光环是由于外部物质不断涌入导致大量新恒星诞生而形成的。离子化氢云的辐射照亮了这一区域。这一光环的直径大约是5000光年，而这个星系的悬臂则长达数万光年。
NGC1097还是一个搜寻超新星的好地方。在1992到2003年的11年间，这个星系中就爆发了三颗超新星。……
更令人兴奋的是它还有两个小的伴星系……
The satellite galaxies are NGC 1097A, an elliptical galaxy orbiting 42 000 light-years from the centre of NGC 1097 and a small dwarf galaxy named NGC 1097B. Both galaxies are located out beyond the frames of this image and they cannot be seen. Astronomers have indications that NGC 1097 and NGC 1097A have interacted in the past.
This picture was taken with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys using visual and infrared filters.
A version of this image was submitted to the Hubble’s Hidden Treasures image processing competition by contestant Eedresha Sturdivant.
两个伴星系分别被称为NGC 1097A/B。前者是一个椭圆星系，距离NGC 1097的中心有4.2万光年，后者则是一个矮星系。可惜两者都不在这张照片中。天文学家认为NGC 1097与NGC 1097A曾经相互接触过。……
Credit:
ESA/Hubble & NASA
Acknowledgement: E. Sturdivant
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