Pressemeddelelse
Støvet fejes væk fra kosmisk hummer
Nyt infrarødt VISTA billede af NGC 6357
20. februar 2013
Et nyt billede fra ESOs VISTA-teleskop viser et kosmisk landskab af glødende skyer af gas og tråde af støv, der omgiver varme unge stjerner. Dette infrarøde billede afslører stjernefødeklinikken, der kaldes NGC 6357, i et overraskende nyt lys. Billedet er taget som en del af en VISTA-kortlægning, der i øjeblikket skanner Mælkevejen for at kortlægge strukturen af vores galakse og forklare hvordan den er dannet.
NGC 6357, der befinder sig 8000 lysår borte i stjernebilledet Scorpius (Skorpionen), kaldes også for Hummertågen [1] på grund af dens udseende på billeder optaget i synligt lys. Tågen er et område fyldt med store gasskyer og tråde af mørkt støv. Disse skyer danner stjerner, herunder tunge varme stjerner, der gløder med en strålende blåhvid farve i synligt lys.
Billedet her er lavet med infrarøde data fra ESOs Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) på Paranal-observatoriet i Chile. Det er blot en lille del af en meget stor undersøgelse kaldet VISTA Variables i Via Láctea (VVV), der kortlægger de centrale dele af vores galakse (eso1242). Det nye billede viser Hummertågen på en radikalt anderledes måde end på billeder optaget i synligt lys som billedet taget med det danske 1,5-meter teleskop på La Silla. Infrarød stråling kan nemlig trænge gennem meget af det støv, der indhyller objektet [2].
En af de klare unge stjerner i NGC 6357, kendt som Pismis 24-1, blev antaget at være den tungeste kendte stjerne – indtil man fandt ud af, at den faktisk består af mindst tre kæmpestore klare stjerner, der hver har en masse på mindre end 100 gange Solens. Alligevel er disse stjerner stadigvæk sværvægtere – nogle af de tungeste i vores galakse, Mælkevejen. Pismis 24-1 er det klareste objekt i Pismis 24 stjernehoben, der er et bundt af stjerner, som alle menes at være dannet på samme tid inde i NGC 6357.
VISTA er det største og kraftigste kortlægningsteleskop der nogensinde er blevet bygget, og er dedikeret til at kortlægge himlen i infrarødt lys. VVV undersøgelsen skanner den centrale bule og noget af planet af vores galakse for at skabe et kæmpestort datasæt, der vil hjælpe astronomer med at lære mere om Mælkevejens oprindelse, tidlige liv og struktur.
Dele af NGC 6357 har også været observeret af NASA/ESA Rumteleskopet Hubble (heic0619a) og ESOs Very Large Telescope (eso1226a). Begge teleskoper har lavet billeder i synligt lys af forskellige dele af dette område – sammenligning af disse billeder med det nye infrarøde billede ovenfor viser nogle iøjnefaldende forskelle. I infrarødt lys er det omfattende fjeragtige rødlige materiale meget mindre tydeligt med tråde af bleg lilla gas, der strejker sig ud fra forskellige områder i stjernetågen.
Noter
[1] Det formelle navn for Hummertågen bruges også nogen gange in den stjernedannende Messier 17 (eso0925) selvom dette objekt oftere kaldes Omegatågen.
[2] Infrarøde observationer kan afsløre ting der ikke kan ses i billeder i synligt lys, for eksempel fordi et objekt er for koldt, tildækket af tykt støv eller befinde sig meget langt væk, hvilket betyder at lyset bliver strukket mod den røde del af spektret grundet Universets udvidelse.
Mere information
ESO, det Europæiske Syd Observatorium, er den mest fremtrædende internationale astronomi-organisation i Europa og verdens mest produktive astronomiske observatorium. ESO har i dag følgende 14 medlemslande: Belgien, Danmark, Finland, Frankrig, Holland, Italien, Portugal, Schweiz og Storbritannien, Spanien, Sverige, Tjekkiet, Tyskland og Østrig. Flere lande har udtrykt interesse i medlemskab. ESO’s aktiviteter er fokuseret på design, konstruktion og drift af jordbaserede observationsfaciliteter for astronomi for at muliggøre vigtige videnskabelige opdagelser. ESO spiller også en ledende rolle for at fremme og organisere samarbejdet inden for astronomisk forskning. I Chile driver ESO tre unikke observatorier i verdensklasse: La Silla, Paranal og Chajnantor. På Paranal driver ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT), der er verdens mest avancerede astronomiske observatorium til observationer i synligt lys. ESO er den europæiske partner i et revolutionerede astronomisk teleskop kaldet ALMA, det største igangværende astronomiske projekt. ESO planlægger i øjeblikket et 42 meter optisk/nær-infrarødt teleskop kaldet European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), der vil blive ”verdens største øje mod himlen”.
Links
Kontakter
Richard Hook
ESO, La Silla, Paranal, E-ELT & Survey Telescopes Press Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6655
Mobil: +49 151 1537 3591
E-mail: rhook@eso.org
Ole J. Knudsen (Pressekontakt Danmark)
ESOs formidlingsnetværk
og Aarhus Space Centre, Aarhus Universitet
Aarhus, Danmark
Tel: +45 8715 5597
E-mail: eson-denmark@eso.org
Om pressemeddelelsen
| Pressemeddelelse nr.: | eso1309da |
| Navn: | NGC 6357 |
| Type: | Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Star Formation |
| Facility: | Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy |
| Instruments: | VIRCAM |
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