Using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers may have found a supernova remnant in an intriguing neighborhood in the middle of our galaxy. A paper describing these new findings published in The Astrophysical Journal.
利用美国宇航局钱德拉 X 射线天文台的数据，天文学家可能在银河系中部一个有趣的区域发现了超新星遗迹。一篇描述这些新发现的论文发表在《天体物理学杂志》上。
Supernova remnants are the expanding remains of exploded stars and provide elements – like iron, oxygen, and silicon – that are critical for the formation of planets and for life as we know it to form and flourish.
超新星遗迹是恒星爆炸后不断膨胀的残骸，提供铁、氧和硅等元素，这些元素对于行星的形成以及我们所知的生命的形成和繁荣至关重要。
This new supernova remnant, if confirmed, would be one of the closest ever discovered to the supermassive black hole at the central region of the Milky Way galaxy, an exotic region crammed with massive stars, long threads of magnetic fields and dense clouds of gas orbiting rapidly around the Galactic Center.
如果得到证实，这个新的超新星遗迹将是迄今为止发现的最接近银河系中心区域超大质量黑洞的遗迹之一，银河系中心区域是一个充满了大质量恒星、长长的磁场线和围绕银河系中心快速轨道运行的致密气体云的奇异区域。
A new composite image of this region contains X-rays from Chandra and ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) XMM-Newton mission (shown in blue) as well as radio data from the MeerKAT telescope (shown in red) in South Africa. These have been combined with an optical image from the Pan-STARRS telescopes in Hawaii (red, green, and blue). The plane of the galaxy runs horizontally from left to right in the image, and the central black hole is off to the left of the image.
该区域的新合成图像包含来自钱德拉和欧洲航天局 (ESA) XMM-牛顿任务（以蓝色显示）的 X 射线以及来自南非 MeerKAT 望远镜（以红色显示）的无线电数据。这些图像与来自夏威夷 Pan-STARRS 望远镜的光学图像（红色、绿色和蓝色）相结合。星系平面在图像中从左向右水平延伸，中央黑洞位于图像的左侧。
The evidence for the new supernova remnant, located about 26,000 light-years from Earth, comes from X-ray data from Chandra and XMM-Newton. The X-ray data reveals a “blob” of X-ray emission that may come from the remains of a massive star that self-destructed as a supernova, buried within the larger cloud of expanding gas.
新超新星遗迹距离地球约 26,000 光年，证据来自钱德拉和 XMM-牛顿的 X 射线数据。 X射线数据显示，X射线发射的“斑点”可能来自一颗大质量恒星的残骸，该恒星以超新星的形式自毁，埋藏在更大的膨胀气体云中。
The location of this suspected supernova remnant in the image is labeled with a circle.
图像中这个疑似超新星遗迹的位置用圆圈标记。
It is in a bubble of gas that has had electrons stripped away from hydrogen – called an “H II region” – surrounding a massive, young star. This bubble is a bright source of radio emission called Sagittarius C.
它位于一个气泡中，电子从氢中被剥离，称为“H II 区域”，围绕着一颗巨大的年轻恒星。这个气泡是一个明亮的射电发射源，称为人马座 C。
If this is indeed a supernova remnant, then it is expanding at about two million miles per hour and is at least about 1,700 years old. Previously, observations with NASA’s now-retired SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) mission had shown evidence for an expanding shell of gas surrounding Sagittarius C. This gave astronomers a hint that a stellar explosion had occurred in the same spot.
如果这确实是超新星遗迹，那么它正在以每小时约 200 万英里的速度膨胀，并且至少有 1700 年的历史。此前，美国宇航局现已退役的 SOFIA（平流层红外天文观测站）任务的观测结果显示，人马座 C 周围存在不断膨胀的气体壳。这向天文学家暗示，同一地点曾发生过恒星爆炸。
The long filaments seen in the radio image are caused by energetic particles travelling along magnetic fields that are mostly directed perpendicular to the plane of the galaxy.
射电图像中看到的长丝是由沿着磁场传播的高能粒子引起的，这些磁场大多垂直于星系平面。
The nuclear fusion engines of stars create elements from hydrogen and helium that were abundant at the beginning of the universe. When stars explode at the end of their lives as supernovae, they send these newly synthesized elements into interstellar space and provide material for the next generation of stars and planets.
恒星的核聚变引擎从宇宙之初丰富的氢和氦中产生元素。当恒星在其生命结束时爆炸为超新星时，它们会将这些新合成的元素送入星际空间，并为下一代恒星和行星提供物质。
The team of astronomers searched the X-ray data for signs of increased amounts of key elements in the remnant, which would have been caused by the stellar explosion blasting them into space. While they did not see an enhancement, this could imply that the stellar debris has already mixed with the surrounding gas.
天文学家团队在 X 射线数据中寻找残骸中关键元素含量增加的迹象，这可能是由恒星爆炸将它们炸入太空造成的。虽然他们没有看到增强，但这可能意味着恒星碎片已经与周围的气体混合。
An alternative explanation for the X-ray blob is that the hot gas comes from a collection of massive stars in the region. The authors of the recent study don’t think this explanation is likely, because the X-ray emission from the blob is more than ten times brighter than the X-ray emission of large, known stellar clusters with bright, massive stars.
对于 X 射线团的另一种解释是，热气体来自该区域的大质量恒星集合。最近研究的作者认为这种解释不太可能，因为该斑点发射的 X 射线比具有明亮大质量恒星的大型已知星团发射的 X 射线亮十倍以上。
An additional image shows data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope added to the X-ray and radio data. The light blue color represents infrared light from gas in the H II region, and the darker blue depicts X-rays from the supernova remnant candidate, on the right side of the image. X-rays near the center of the image are associated with the H II region, possibly caused by material blown away by massive stars that has heated gas to millions of degrees, producing X-rays.
另一张图像显示了来自 NASA 詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜的数据添加到 X 射线和无线电数据中。浅蓝色代表来自 H II 区域气体的红外光，深蓝色代表来自图像右侧的候选超新星遗迹的 X 射线。图像中心附近的 X 射线与 H II 区域相关，可能是由大质量恒星吹走的物质造成的，这些恒星将气体加热到数百万度，产生 X 射线。
The study’s authors are Zhenlin Zhu and Mark Morris of the University of California, Los Angeles; Gabriele Ponti of Italy’s National Institute for Astrophysics; and Ping Zhou of Nanjing University in China.
该研究的作者是加州大学洛杉矶分校的 Zhuzhenlin Zhu 和 Mark Morris；意大利国家天体物理研究所的 Gabriele Ponti；和中国南京大学的周平。
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
美国宇航局位于阿拉巴马州亨茨维尔的马歇尔太空飞行中心负责管理钱德拉计划。史密森天体物理观测站的钱德拉 X 射线中心控制着马萨诸塞州剑桥的科学业务和马萨诸塞州伯灵顿的飞行业务。
This release features a composite image of colorful, overlapping clouds, which suggests to astronomers that a supernova remnant may be buried in gas near the center of our Milky Way galaxy.
此次发布的图片是彩色重叠云层的合成图像，这向天文学家表明超新星遗迹可能埋藏在银河系中心附近的气体中。
Set against a backdrop packed with distant stars and other specks of light are two distinct, overlapping clouds. The larger, visually dominant cloud, is red and multifaceted. It has an irregular shape, and features patches of different textures, including pockets that resemble wispy smoke, tangles of faint red veins, and clear streaking lines. This large cloud of expanding gas represents radio data from the MeerKAT telescope in South Africa.
在布满遥远星星和其他光点的背景下，有两片截然不同、重叠的云。较大的、视觉上占主导地位的云是红色的、多面的。它的形状不规则，有不同纹理的斑块，有像一缕缕烟雾的口袋，有缠结的淡红色纹理，还有清晰的条纹。这片巨大的膨胀气体云代表了来自南非 MeerKAT 望远镜的无线电数据。
Overlapping with that red cloud is a cloudy blue blob representing X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton. Astronomers suggest that this blue blob of X-ray emissions is the remains of a massive star destroyed by a supernova.
与红色云重叠的是一个浑浊的蓝色斑点，代表来自 NASA 钱德拉 X 射线天文台和 ESA 的 XMM-Newton 的 X 射线数据。天文学家认为，这个蓝色的 X 射线辐射团是一颗被超新星摧毁的大质量恒星的残骸。
To learn more about NASA’s Chandra mission, visit:
要了解有关 NASA 钱德拉任务的更多信息，请访问：
Megan Watzke Chandra X-ray Center Cambridge, Mass. 617-496-7998 mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu
Megan Watzke Chandra X 射线中心，马萨诸塞州剑桥。 617-496-7998 mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu
Joel Wallace Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama 256-544-0034 joel.w.wallace@nasa.gov
乔尔·华莱士·马歇尔太空飞行中心，阿拉巴马州亨茨维尔 256-544-0034 joel.w.wallace@nasa.gov