Like a collage made of layered sheets of colored cellophane, a vibrant new image layers observations of a famous star-forming nebula from NASA space telescopes. The resulting cosmic “craft” reveals new details about the star formation region known as 30 Doradus, or the Tarantula Nebula.
就像一幅由彩色玻璃纸分层制成的拼贴画，一幅充满活力的新图像分层展示了美国宇航局太空望远镜对著名恒星形成星云的观测结果。由此产生的宇宙“工艺”揭示了有关剑鱼座 30 或狼蛛星云的恒星形成区域的新细节。
Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small neighbor galaxy to the Milky Way about 160,000 light-years from Earth, the Tarantula has thousands of young stars embedded in a vibrant honeycomb-like structure of gas and dust.
塔兰图拉毒蛛位于大麦哲伦星云中，这是银河系的一个小邻居星系，距地球约 16 万光年，塔兰图拉毒蛛拥有数千颗年轻恒星，嵌入充满活力的蜂窝状气体和尘埃结构中。
The new composite image contains X-rays from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, which has repeatedly observed the Tarantula Nebula over the course of its mission, in the layer that appears in blue. The X-ray data reveals gas blown away by winds from the surfaces of young, massive stars and heated to millions of degrees by shock waves, like sonic booms from supersonic jets.
新的合成图像包含来自 NASA 钱德拉 X 射线天文台的 X 射线，该天文台在其任务过程中反复观察狼蛛星云，位于蓝色层中。 X射线数据揭示了年轻大质量恒星表面的气体被风吹走，并被冲击波加热到数百万度，就像超音速喷气机的音爆一样。
The red represents infrared data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope showing thousands of young stars, plus swaths of cool dust that will provide the ingredients to form new stars and planets. Optical data in the green layer from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope uncovers hydrogen gas that is warmer than seen with Webb, as well as some individual stars through the nebula.
红色代表来自美国宇航局詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜的红外数据，显示了数千颗年轻恒星，以及大片冷尘埃，这些尘埃将为形成新恒星和行星提供成分。美国宇航局哈勃太空望远镜绿色层的光学数据发现了比韦伯太空望远镜看到的更温暖的氢气，以及星云中的一些单独的恒星。
The composite image shows the full Hubble and Webb images of this region, as well as a large section of the Chandra image, all recently published in a research paper in the Astrophysical Journal . In some regions the blue Chandra layer stands alone, and in others it combines with either the red Webb data or the green Hubble data. In the middle region all three images overlap to provide a holistic view in red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.
合成图像显示了该区域的完整哈勃和韦伯图像，以及钱德拉图像的一大部分，所有这些都最近发表在《天体物理学杂志》的一篇研究论文中。在某些地区，蓝色钱德拉层是单独存在的，而在其他地区，它与红色韦伯数据或绿色哈勃数据结合在一起。在中间区域，所有三个图像重叠以提供红色、橙色、黄色、绿色和蓝色的整体视图。
Previously, astronomers had studied the amount and the impact of energy produced by winds from young, massive stars in the Tarantula Nebula. Scientists expect that much of this energy should heat gas so that it produces X-rays. However, the research paper shows that there is much less X-ray-emitting gas in the nebula than expected. This led researchers to ask: Where has this energy gone and what tamed the Tarantula Nebula?
此前，天文学家研究了狼蛛星云中年轻大质量恒星的风产生的能量数量和影响。科学家预计，大部分能量会加热气体，从而产生 X 射线。然而，研究论文表明，星云中发射X射线的气体比预期要少得多。这让研究人员不禁要问：这些能量去了哪里？是什么驯服了狼蛛星云？
By studying the data from Chandra, Hubble, and Webb, combined with data from NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope, the team concluded the Tarantula may be losing energy from several sources.
通过研究钱德拉、哈勃和韦伯的数据，结合美国宇航局退役的斯皮策太空望远镜的数据，研究小组得出结论，狼蛛可能正在从多个来源失去能量。
First, up to half of the hot gas is leaking through the shell walls of the gas and dust structures and escaping the nebula. Next, there is stirring and mixing between the cold gas near the shell walls and some of the hot gas, lowering the overall temperature of the gas. Finally, comparisons with computer simulations suggest the Tarantula may be losing energy through conduction. This involves direct physical contact between hot and cooler material, like with a frying pan on a burner, causing the hot and cooler material to equalize in temperature. In the case of the Tarantula Nebula, the hot gas would be conducting heat by being in direct contact with the cooler gas in the shells, especially in the densest regions. This scenario does not necessarily involve mixing the hot and cooler gas.
首先，多达一半的热气体通过气体和尘埃结构的壳壁泄漏并逸出星云。接下来，靠近壳壁的冷气体和一些热气体之间发生搅拌和混合，降低了气体的整体温度。最后，与计算机模拟的比较表明狼蛛可能通过传导损失能量。这涉及热材料和冷材料之间的直接物理接触，例如使用燃烧器上的煎锅，导致热材料和冷材料温度均衡。就狼蛛星云而言，热气体将通过与壳中较冷的气体直接接触来传导热量，特别是在最密集的区域。这种情况不一定涉及混合热气体和冷气体。
The combination of these three channels for losing large amounts of energy leads to this colorful and complex display revealed by NASA’s telescopes working together.
这三个损失大量能量的通道的结合导致了美国宇航局望远镜协同工作所揭示的丰富多彩且复杂的显示。
The paper describing these results was led by Jennifer Rodriguez of The Ohio State University in Columbus. Additional authors on the paper include Laura Lopez, Ohio State; Lachlan Lancaster, Columbia University in New York City; Anna Rosen, San Diego State University; Omnaraynai Nayak, Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore; Sebastian Lopez, Ohio State; Tyler Holland-Ashford, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; and Trinity Webb, Ohio State.
描述这些结果的论文由哥伦布俄亥俄州立大学的 Jennifer Rodriguez 领导。该论文的其他作者包括俄亥俄州立大学的劳拉·洛佩兹 (Laura Lopez)； Lachlan Lancaster，纽约市哥伦比亚大学；安娜·罗森，圣地亚哥州立大学； Omnaraynai Nayak，巴尔的摩太空望远镜科学研究所；塞巴斯蒂安·洛佩兹，俄亥俄州立大学； Tyler Holland-Ashford，美国宇航局位于马里兰州格林贝尔特的戈达德太空飞行中心；和俄亥俄州三一韦伯。
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。