Kometenhafte Sterne
Dieses spektakuläre Bild der Woche wurde aus Daten des Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile in Kombination mit Daten des NASA/ESA Hubble Space Teleskops gewonnen. Es zeigt einen Sternhaufen namens Westerlund 1, einen der massereichsten jungen Sternhaufen in unserer Milchstraße.
Das Besondere daran ist, dass es kometenähnliche „Schweife“ aus Materie zeigt, die sich von den Riesensternen in Westerlund 1 nach außen hin erstrecken. Solche Schweife entstehen in den dichten und unerbittlichen Sternwinden, die von den Mitgliedern des Sternhaufens ausgehen und die Material nach außen transportieren.
Dieses Phänomen ist ganz ähnlich zu der Art, wie auch Kometen zu ihren allseits bekannten und ästhetisch aussehenden Schweifen kommen. In unserem Sonnensystem werden Kometenschweife vom Kern des Kometen durch einen von der Sonne ausgehenden Partikelstrom nach außen getragen. Dementsprechend zeigen sie immer von der Sonne weg. Ganz ähnlich zeigen auch die Schweife der riesigen roten Sterne in diesem Bild weg vom Zentrum des Sternhaufens – wahrscheinlich verursacht durch starke Sternwinde, die von den Hunderten heißer und massereicher Sterne im Zentrum von Westerlund 1 ausgehen.
Diese massereichen Strukturen erstrecken sich über gewaltige Distanzen und demonstrieren die dramatischen Auswirkungen, welche solche Umgebungen auf den Prozess der Sternenstehung nehmen können.
Die kometenartigen Schweife wurden während einer ALMA-Studie von Westerlund 1 entdeckt, bei der die Sterne des Haufens im Focus standen und der Mechanismus und die Geschwindigkeit, mit der sie ihre Masse verlieren. Dieser Sternhaufen enthält bekanntermaßen eine große Zahl massereicher Sterne. Viele davon haben einen exotischen und seltenen Sterntyp, was sie für Astronomen zu interessanten Studienobjekten macht, um die Myriaden anderer Sterne unserer Galaxie besser verstehen zu lernen.
Bildnachweis:ESO/D. Fenech et al.; ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)
Acknowledgments: Mahdi Zamani
Über das Bild
| ID: | potw1849a |
| Sprache: | de-be |
| Typ: | Beobachtung |
| Veröffentlichungsdatum: | 3. Dezember 2018 06:00 |
| Größe: | 1838 x 1929 px |
Über das Objekt
| Name: | Westerlund 1 |
| Typ: | Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Open |
| Constellation: | Ara |
Bildschirm-Hintergrundbilder
Koordinaten
| Position (RA): | 16 47 3.98 |
| Position (Dec): | -45° 50' 52.97" |
| Field of view: | 2.76 x 2.90 arcminutes |
| Orientierung: | Die Nordrichtung liegt 44.2° rechts zur Vertikale |
Farben & Filter
| Spektralbereich | Wellenlänge | Teleskop |
|---|---|---|
| Optisch R | 625 nm | Very Large Telescope OmegaCAM |
| Optisch G | 480 nm | VLT Survey Telescope OmegaCAM |
| Optisch H-alpha | 659 nm | Very Large Telescope OmegaCAM |
| Optisch H-alpha | 659 nm | Very Large Telescope OmegaCAM |
| Optisch I | 770 nm | Very Large Telescope OmegaCAM |
| Infrarot J | 1.25 μm | Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 |
| Infrarot J | 1.25 μm | Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 |
| Infrarot H | 1.6 μm | Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 |
| Infrarot Water-CH4 | 1.39 μm | Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 |
| Infrarot Water-CH4 | 1.39 μm | Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 |
| Millimeter 100 GHz | 3.0 mm | Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 3 |
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