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Glossary term: 灰塵

Description: 與地球不同,深空的塵埃顆粒非常微小,大多數小於千分之一毫米。它們是恆星之間介質(稱為星際介質)的重要組成部分。它們形成於不同的環境中,例如某些冷巨星或超新星的外層,並在這些恆星開始失去質量時分散到太空中。它們主要由硅酸鹽、碳化合物和微量其他元素組成。在星際介質的低溫緻密區域,這些物質可能被包裹在冰層中。它們是造成到達我們這裡的星光在星際間消光的主要原因。

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Term and definition status: The original definition of this term in English have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher
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The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".

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一道平滑而柔和的光暈從地平線向左上方延伸。在左上角有一對明亮的恆星

GTC天文臺上空的黃道光

Caption: 在2022年IAU OAE天文攝影大賽中,榮獲“天體圖案靜態圖像”類別冠軍。 這張照片拍攝於2022年5月,地點在加那利群島的拉帕爾馬島。照片捕捉到了黃道光、三個顯著的星座(雙子座、巨蟹座和御夫座),以及蜂巢星團(在黑暗的夜空中,肉眼可見為一小片朦朧的光斑)。黃道光是一種沿著黃道延伸的三角形白色光暈,在日落後不久出現在西方的地平線上。加那利群島被古希臘人視為有人居住的世界的最西端。黃道上的微弱光芒可能啟發了希臘哲學家柏拉圖,他認為太陽在其身後會留下一道陽光閃爍的痕跡,而太陽當前的軌跡,即黃道,並不總是它的軌跡。柏拉圖相信,銀河是太陽曾經的路徑,其明亮的雲彩是太陽輝煌留下的火花。如今,我們知道這兩種天文現象有不同的成因:黃道光是由黃道平面上微小塵埃粒子反射陽光形成的,而銀河則由數十億顆恆星組成。黃道光是從地平線向上延伸的平滑光錐,而銀河則橫跨整個天空,并包含暗雲。 在澳大利亞原住民的傳說中,黃道被稱為“咪幻之路”,而黃道光則是一條連接金星與太陽的天繩。照片左上方的兩顆亮星是北河二(偏藍色的星星)和北河三(偏白色的星星),它們是雙子座的一部分,即雙子星座。照片右下方的兩顆亮星是五車三(較暗的一顆)和五車二(較亮的一顆),它們屬於御夫座,即戰車座。 澳大利亞西維多利亞的維爾蓋亞人將北河二和北河三視為故事中獵殺袋鼠普拉的兩兄弟。這與巴比倫的傳說有巧合的相似之處,在巴比倫神話中,它們被視為冥界的兩位強大神靈,手持武器。希臘羅馬神話中的雙胞胎則被描述為兩兄弟,他們陪伴著第一位航海者伊阿宋,乘坐阿爾戈號航行。加拿大和美國的黑腳族原住民也有類似的傳說,他們將這兩顆星視為灰燼酋長和被打擊者兩兄弟。
Credit: Amirreza Kamkar/IAU OAU

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非洲草原上方的銀河拱門。銀河的彌散光被一串暗斑打斷。

安波塞利國家公園上空的銀河拱門

Caption: 2022年國際天文學聯合會(IAU)OAE天文攝影比賽靜態天體圖案類別獲獎作品。 這張照片2016年7月拍攝於肯尼亞安博塞利國家公園,該公園位於赤道附近。 在北非的埃及神話中,銀河被看作神靈所航行的河流。南非的祖魯人將這種由明暗星雲組成的圖案解釋為一種皮膚黑白相間的動物,而南非的科伊科伊人和桑人則認為它是“星路”。在南非的一些文化中,銀河的拱門是一位母神創造的通往天堂的道路——這是19世紀的早期人類學研究所采納的一個南非創世神話,但這一神話如今已經消失。 在照片的右中部,我們可以看到現代天蠍座中明亮的紅色恆星心宿二。照片左上角邊緣是白色的織女星,開普敦附近的人認為它是雄性的駿馬。 澳大利亞原住民對銀河有很多稱呼。澳大利亞北領地阿納姆地區的約爾努(Yolnu)人稱呼銀河為“Milnguya”,意為“天河”。這張照片中的一個突出圖案與銀河的明暗區域對比有關。 這些暗區是由星際塵埃和氣體組成的低溫緻密雲團,阻擋了其背後恆星發出的光線。其中一個突出的圖案被澳大利亞南部幾個土著民族稱為“Tchingal”,意為“天上的鸸鹋”。鸸鹋的頭部和嘴部(即煤袋星雲)位於南十字座(照片右下角)的左下方,身體和腿部則從南十字座向左延伸。其他原住民群體則將暗區與洞穴或水道聯繫在一起。鸸鹋一年四季的朝向提供了重要的線索,表明什麼時候應該採集鸸鹋蛋,什麼時候鸸鹋蛋開始孵化。在某些月份,當這些銀河暗雲靠近地平線時,人們則認為它們不是鸸鹋,而是兩條匍匐前進的鱷魚。 在銀河系中心的上方,可以清楚地看到黑暗的菸斗星雲的現代形象。銀河上方那顆橙紅色的恆星是天蠍座的心宿二,而菸斗的煙霧可以到達心宿二旁邊色彩斑斕的蛇夫座ρ區域。波隆人把心宿二稱為“Djuit”,意為“紅腰鸚鵡”;而西部沙漠的科卡塔人則把心宿二稱為“Kogolongo”,意為“紅尾黑鳳頭鸚鵡”。 此外,照片中還可以看到一些著名的星座:天鵝座、天鷹座、天琴座、天蠍座、人馬座、南十字座和半人馬座。在南非的一些傳統中,指針星——半人馬座α星(南門二)和β星(馬腹一)偶爾被視為野獸的眼睛。
Credit: Amirreza Kamkar/IAU OAE

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Over trees with thick trunks, the Milky Way, with several bright objects left and right, is bisected by a wide dark line.

Milky Way over Avenue of Baobabs

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   This image, taken from the Avenue of Baobabs, Morondava, Madagascar, in July 2017, shows the majestic band of the Milky Way, our home galaxy, together with a rich collection of constellations and asterisms: Crux, Centaurus, Scorpius, Sagittarius and the Teapot asterism. Towards the bottom left of the image we can see the Southern Cross and the pointer stars Alpha (the brighter of the two) and Beta Centauri, which help to distinguish it from similar-looking configurations. Some cultures in Africa associate the Southern Cross with a giraffe, while others associate the constellations with a pride of lions or even with the Tree of Life. Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius, is the orange-red star straight up from the middle baobab tree. To the Pokomo people from southwestern Kenya, Africa, the Milky Way is associated with the smoke emanating from a campfire lit by ancient people. The various people in South Africa, in contrast, have different star tales; the Khoikhoi from the region around Cape Town explained the colours of the red and white stars as red and white roots that were roasted on a fire and thrown towards the sky together with the ashes of the fire. The Xhosa from further east consider the Milky Way the raised bristle of a huge angry dog, while the Zulu from near Johannesburg interpret it as a stream of spears of their strongest warriors. Polynesian people, who were adept seafarers and navigators, see the constellation Scorpius as a fish hook, and refer to it as the demigod Maui’s Fish Hook. For the Djab Wurrung and the Jardwadjali people, the Southern Cross is part of a Dreamtime Story involving Tchingal, the Bram-bram-bult brothers (the pointer stars), their mother Druk (Delta Crux), and Bunya, the hunter who gets changed into a possum (Gacrux, red star at the top of the Southern Cross). In this image, the planets Saturn (the bright point above Antares) and Jupiter (the bright point at the bottom-right of the image close to the trunk of the baobab tree) are visible. Indigenous cultures have various stories associated with the planets, for example Kamilaroi and Wailan people associate Saturn with wunygal, a small bird. The Boorong people of Western Victoria associate Jupiter with Ginabongbearp, the chief of the old spirits (Nurrumbunguttias), who takes the totemic form of the sulphur-crested white cockatoo.
Credit: Amirreza Kamkar/IAU OAE

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銀河在陡峭海岸線上的一座橋上若隱若現。右上方是明亮的深紅色恆星心宿二。

駕駛途中

Caption: 2022年國際天文學聯合會(IAU)OAE天文攝影比賽靜態天體圖案類別榮譽獎作品。 這張照片於2021年5月在美國加利福尼亞州山區的大瑟爾拍攝。照片中,銀河橫跨在歷史悠久的比克斯比大橋上空。 岸邊正上方的恆星是心宿二,它是天蠍座心臟部位的一顆紅超巨星。在它的左側,銀河中的團塊似乎與岩石陸地同時從地平線上冒出來。在照片左側的四分之一處,陸地之上、銀河之下,有著另一顆明亮的恆星——牛郎星,它是天鷹座中的明亮恆星。 蠍子被認為是一種危險的動物,因此在古巴比倫的神話故事中,蠍人(人與蠍子的混血後代)守護著冥界之門,《吉爾伽美什史詩》中就有這樣的記載。天鷹座則出現在古巴比倫國王埃塔納的傳奇故事中——埃塔納被一隻老鷹帶到天空,並描述了他在逐漸升高的過程中所看到的世界。吉爾伽美什和埃塔納這兩位英雄都在尋找”生命之草“,但前者向下,後者向上。吉爾伽美什的目標是復活死去的朋友恩基杜,並讓自己長生不老;而埃塔納則是為了幫助妻子懷孕而尋找這種草藥。在尋找生命之草的征途中,這兩位英雄分別獲得了蠍子和老鷹這兩種動物的幫助,但最終都沒有成功。吉爾伽美什最終明白,一個人只有通過為全人類做善事才能得到永生。天鷹座在希臘文化中也得到了認可,但直到羅馬時代,它才成為亡靈的使者,帶著亡靈飛向永恆的星空。當時,托勒密在古典天鷹座的下方創造了一個新的星座——安提諾座,代表著安提諾烏斯的靈魂。這位年輕人是羅馬皇帝哈德良的朋友兼顧問,在《天文學大成》完成之前七年淹死在尼羅河中,羅馬帝國舉行了全國哀悼。 銀河被許多文化視為”靈魂之路“,但在古巴比倫文化中並非如此。不過,在古希臘古羅馬哲學中,在心宿二與牛郎星之間,銀河與黃道相交處的白色明亮部分確實有其含義:柏拉圖、馬克羅比烏斯等哲學家將其稱為”天空中的X“,第二道天門可能就在這裡(第一道天門是由畢星團和昴星團組成的)。 這些天路和天門,被描繪在巨型橋梁以及陸海交匯之處的地景之上,構成了一張極具沖擊力的照片。此外,陸地上方銀河之中存在著黑暗的團塊,在澳大利亞南部一些原住民文化中,它是兩個巨大的黑暗鱷魚星座之一。
Credit: Marcin Zajac/IAU OAE

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Several observatory domes on a mountain top with the arching Milky Way behind.

Teide Observatory

Caption: 在2022年IAU OAE天文攝影大賽中,榮獲“天體圖案靜態圖像”類別榮譽提名。 這張照片拍攝於2022年5月,地點在西班牙特內裡費島的泰德國家公園。照片中,銀河的弧線橫跨天際,與島上山脈上專業望遠鏡上空的顯赫星座交相輝映。儘管望遠鏡和其工作人員或許對星座視而不見,攝影師卻巧妙捕捉到了銀河,其形態幾乎與山脈的輪廓相吻合。 照片左上方的亮星是織女星,它是夜空中最亮的星星之一,位於小巧的天琴座中。作為一顆白色恆星,它是天體物理學家定義顏色標尺的標準星。由於它距離地球相對較近,僅約25光年,且擁有一個相對簡單的名字,織女星頻繁出現在現代科幻作品中,例如卡爾·薩根所著的著名小說《接觸》,該小說於1997年被搬上銀幕,由朱迪·福斯特飾演一位射電天文學家。 在銀河系下方、照片左側看到的亮星是牽牛星,它也是夜空中最亮的恆星之一,位於天鷹座。它與天鵝座中的天津四(在這張照片中不可見)以及織女星共同組成了夏季大三角,這是這些望遠鏡所在的北半球流行的天文學中的一個特徵星群。 在照片的右側,我們可以看到天蠍座。通過其最亮的星星心宿二,即天蠍心臟部位的紅色星星,可以輕易辨認出它。在心宿二下方,可以找到天蠍的整個身體和尾巴,而在其上方,天蠍的頭部由三顆明亮的藍色星星代表。在尾巴下方和地平線上方,天壇座半隱半現,但就像銀河中的人馬座和其上方的武仙座與蛇夫座中更暗淡的星星一樣,這些星座在這張充滿星星的照片中更難辨認。蛇夫座的頭部是位於織女星和心宿二之間相對較亮的星星。除了這個星座的巨大尺寸外,它之所以重要,還因為它是黃道十三星座之一,太陽在蛇夫座中度過大約三周時間,而在天蠍座中僅度過五天。此外,蛇夫座代表了神話中世界上最好的醫生的模型,在希臘神話中被稱為阿斯克勒庇俄斯,在拉丁語中被稱為埃斯庫拉庇烏斯。他的星座讚美了所有從事醫療職業的人,包括護士、藥劑師和醫生。

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在一片參差不齊、繁茂的樹林後面,銀河呈現為兩道黃褐色的光流,被斑駁的暗區所隔斷

俄勒岡海岸

Caption: 2022年國際天文學聯合會天文教育辦公室天文攝影大賽榮譽提名,類別:天體圖案靜態圖像。 這張照片拍攝的是 2021 年 7 月在美國俄勒岡州上空看到的銀河系(我們的家園星系)。這顯然是一張合成圖,因為星星並沒有倒映在水中。不過,它的構圖很好地暗示了地球上的水流與天空中的星流(鏡像)之間的相似性。 在這張圖片中,銀河顯然占據了天空的主導地位。作為天空中一個顯著的特徵,銀河與許多文化的宗教和神話有著緊密的聯繫。在希臘民間傳說中,最著名的解釋是將其視為強大的母親女神赫拉(Hera)的神聖乳汁,而她的丈夫宙斯(Zeus)經常行為不端(正如這次事件中,他導致了這一意外)。另一方面,希臘神話認為這是靈魂的路徑,而古希臘科學則提出了幾種科學解釋,但最終都被證明是錯誤的。 北美洲的奧吉布韋人(Ojibwe)——他們生活在拍攝這張照片的俄勒岡州以東——也將銀河視為靈魂之路和靈魂之河。看著圖片的前景,這種信仰更加容易理解;仿佛地球上的河流與天空中的河流在地平線上融為一體。 圖片中央的顯著特徵是銀河中被稱為“菸斗星雲”(Pipe Nebula)的暗區。這個菸斗的煙霧向右延伸,幾乎在一棵樹頂處結束,那裡我們找到了天蠍座心臟位置的橙色恆星——心宿二(Antares)。 在圖片中央,菸斗星雲下方,銀河中有一片巨大的暗區,其中有兩個顯著的紅色斑點。這些斑點是被稱為“貓爪星雲”(Cat’s Paw)和“礁湖星雲”(Lagoon)的氫雲,但在這張圖片中,它們看起來像是易洛魁原住民信仰中的偉大神靈——馬尼圖(Manitou)的紅色眼睛。這片區域的人馬座(Sagittarius)並不明顯,因為銀河的圖像經過了高度處理,以展示這些肉眼無法看到的暗區特徵。
Credit: Marcin Zajac/IAU OAE

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The Milky Way over a cloudy landscape. A triangle of bright objects is visible on the left of the image.

Equatorial Milky Way

Caption: Honourable mention in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns: Equatorial Milky Way   Taken in Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park, Java Island, Indonesia, in March 2016, this image captures regions of the southern Milky Way and, at its left edge, the two planets Mars and Saturn. Mars appears orange and is similar in colour to the star Antares, whose Greek name — anti Ares — references this. Saturn is a little bit fainter than Mars, but clearly visible among the stars of Ophiuchus, above the Pipe Nebula and forming an isosceles triangle with Mars and Antares. Mars is on the top and Saturn is vertically below. Visible to the naked eye, both planets have significance in many cultures around the world. In Roman mythology Mars is the god of war and fertility, and Saturn the god of sowing and agriculture. Its Greek equivalent, the god Kronos, is also considered the regent of completion. Indigenous Australians, including the Kamilaroi and Wailan people, associate Saturn with “wunygal”, a small bird. Mars is called Iherm-penh (something burnt in flames) by the Anmatyerre people of the Central Desert, while the Kokatha people of the Western Desert associate Mars and the star Anatres with the red-tailed black cockatoo (Kogolongo). In the middle of this photograph, the most famous southern constellations are clearly recognisable: the Southern Cross (Crux), the pointer stars, Alpha and Beta Centauri, the dark Coalsack Nebula and the red Eta Carina Nebula, which is not visible to the unaided eye but is prominent in modern photographs. In the 19th century, the star eta Carinae had been the second-brightest star in the sky for some time, but since it varies irregularly, it has hardly been recognisable in recent decades, and its future visibility is unpredictable. Triangulum Australe is visible between the pointer stars and the Scorpion, and in the constellation of Centaurus, the bright globular star cluster Omega Centauri is clearly displayed. It was considered a “nebulous star” since antiquity and, thus, was listed in star catalogues for at least 2000 years. Only within the last century did astronomers discover that globular star clusters are in the halo of our galaxy and that this one consists of roughly 10 million stars. The dark regions in the Milky Way, which are cool, dense clouds of dust and gas, form the head and body of the Celestial Emu Tchingal. Together with the Southern Cross and the pointer stars, they appear in the Dreamtime stories of many Indigenous Australians. One story associated with the Djab Wurrung and the Jardwadjali people is part of a Dreamtime Story involving Tchingal, the Bram-bram-bult brothers (the pointer stars), their mother Druk (Delta Crux), and Bunya the hunter, who gets transformed into a possum (Gacrux, the red star at the top of the Southern Cross).
Credit: Giorgia Hofer/IAU OAE

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The diffuse glow of the Milky Way broken by dark patches. Right, the red star Antares forms the top of a hook-like pattern

Milky Way Arch over La Palma

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   This image, which shows the majestic band of the Milky Way and a range of culturally significant patterns, was taken in May 2022 at a very high altitude from the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma, from which one can see the clouds below. Some prominent star patterns include Scorpius, Sagittarius, Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila, the Summer Triangle asterism, and the Teapot asterism. As the Canary Islands used to be a starting point for European sailors to explore the world, we use this place to point to the many indigenous cultures they encountered. Most notably it is the dark patterns within the band of the Milky Way that hold significance for many Indigenous cultures around the world. The dark patterns are in fact dense, cool clouds of gas and dust that block the light from stars. Indigenous people see caves, waterways and various patterns associated with the dark regions of the Milky Way. The constellations and patterns hold different cultural significance and interpretations for different people. For example, the constellation Scorpius is referred to by Polynesian people as the demigod Maui’s Fishhook. The Yolnu people of Arnhem Land associate Scorpius with a crocodile called Ingalpir. Some Indigenous Australian groups associate stories with individual stars within Scorpius, most notably Antares, the orange-red star in the top right of the image above the band of the Milky Way. Next to the Scorpion and above the bright centre of the Milky Way, there is a prominent dark cloud that is called the Pipe Nebula by modern astrophotographers. The smoke of this pipe goes up to rho Ophiuchi. This and all the other dark clouds in the Milky Way together form the backbone of heaven for some tribes, and an animal with black-and-white skin for South African Zulu people. The nomenclature of bright stars also has cross-cultural roots. For example, Vega (the bright blue star towards the top of the image) comes from the Arabic waqi, from al-nasr al-waqi, the Eagle who throws himself down (in order to hunt). This contrasts with the Flying Eagle, Altair, also derived from Arabic. Antares is a Greek word meaning “the one similar to Mars”, referring to its colour. The star name Shaula in the stinger of the Scorpion is a modern version of the Babylonian or even Sumerian star name.
Credit: Amirreza Kamkar/IAU OAE

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The Milky Way arches over a mountain-top building. Its diffuse glow is broken by dark patches and is brighter on the right

The Moon and Milky Way arch Above the Golden Hall

Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.   Taken in April 2021 from the top of the Laojun Mountain in China, this image shows a panoramic view of the Milky Way over the Golden Hall called “Yuhuangding” as a symbol of wealth. In China, the Milky Way is considered a huge stream like one of the big rivers. It separates the Cowherd (Altair) and his beloved Weaving Girl (Vega) and it has a Celestial Ford in the northern dark cloud in the modern constellation Cygnus. The Milky Way appears as a whitish arch as we cannot distinguish all the individual stars, but instead see the accumulation of light from them. It is a disc-shaped galaxy and the Solar System is located within one of its spiral arms, so we see it from inside, which gives it the shape of a band in our sky. It is associated with the religions and mythologies of several cultures. The modern term Milky Way derives from Greek folklore as the milk spread in the sky by the mother goddess Hera, when she unwillingly breastfed young Heracles. This son of Zeus and a mortal woman was put next to her while she was asleep but from his strong sucking she woke up and realised she was feeding an unknown child, and immediately pushed the child away. Greek philosophers like Plato considered the glittering band in the sky to be the traces of a former path of the Sun. Alternatively, for the Tupi-Guarani indigenous mythology from South America, the Milky Way represents the “path of tapir”. For some Australian native peoples, its dark clouds formed the shape of an emu if high in the sky, and of crocodiles if low on the horizon. For many southern African, South American and Australian cultures, it was considered a pathway to or from heaven. At the right edge of the image, we can recognise the modern constellation Scorpius with its most prominent star, Antares, the reddish star just above the Milky Way. The brightest point seen in the centre bottom of the image is the rising Moon with Jupiter next to it. A few constellations can be distinguished in this image, including Corona Australis, a faint arc-shaped constellation located to the bottom right. Just above the Southern Crown, we can see the Teapot asterism as part of the Sagittarius constellation. Since Sagittarius lies next to the centre of the Milky Way, many structures such as star-forming regions, globular clusters and planetary nebulae can be found within its boundaries. In Sagittarius, we also find a supermassive black hole four million times as massive as our Sun. At the left side of the band, we can identify the bright star Deneb in the constellation Cygnus, The Swan, through which the Milky Way runs, meaning that a variety of star clusters are found in this constellation.
Credit: Likai Lin/IAU OAE

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銀河在左側被一個巨大的暗拱門一分為二。下方有兩個明亮的漫射光斑。

安格勒斯里奇上空的銀河(Anglers Reach為澳大利亞新南威爾士州雪山地區的小鎮,直譯可為"垂釣者之域")

Caption: 2022年 IAU OAE 天文攝影大賽獲獎作品(天體靜態攝影組) 這張攝於南半球澳大利亞安格勒斯里奇的影像(2022年4月),展現了銀河與諸多天體的壯麗景象。 畫面左下方可見天蠍座及其最亮的紅色恆星心宿二(位於弧形光帶上方)。畫面中左部銀河區域中的主導亮星群為南十字座(Crux)的四顆標誌性亮星,其左側則是半人馬座α星(南門二)與β星(馬腹一)組成的"指引星"。南十字座指向沒有亮星標記的南天極,而指引星則指向南十字座本身,以此區別於船帆座的假十字星群。 南十字座圖案出現在澳大利亞、巴西、巴布亞新幾內亞、薩摩亞和新西蘭的國旗上。由於南十字座位於銀河最明亮的區域,其亮星旁著名的暗星雲"煤袋星雲"尤為醒目。該暗星雲在南美、南非及澳大利亞原住民文化中被視為暗星座的一部分——畫面中幾乎完全露出地平線的澳大利亞"鸸鹋暗星座",正從煤袋星雲處的頭部延伸至地平線。 古希臘時期,南十字座的恆星被歸入半人馬座(一種人首馬身的傳說生物)。希臘神話中的半人馬智者喀戎由該星座象徵,其最亮星南門二(半人馬座α星)代表喀戎的前蹄。其下方可見南三角座。半人馬座α星作為三合星系統,是距離太陽系最近的恆星鄰居。 畫面中右部的銀河區域為古代星座"南船座"(Argo)。約1600年荷蘭航海家擴展了該星座範圍,其恆星數量之巨使得18世紀法國天文學家拉卡伊不得不在星表中將其細分為船尾座(Puppis)、船底座(Carina)和船帆座(Vela)。影像中船底座(南船之龍骨)的紅色區域清晰呈現了船底星雲。 畫面右緣可見夜空中最亮的恆星天狼星,而第二亮星老人星(南船座船舵)則主導著銀河拱門下方的區域。銀河拱門下方還可觀測到銀河系的衛星星系——大麥哲倫雲與小麥哲倫雲。
Credit: Lucy Yunxi Hu/IAU OAU

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銀河就像一條暗線兩側的兩條垂直漫射光帶,籠罩在岩石露頭上。

創世之柱

Caption: 2022 年國際天文學聯合會 OAE 天體攝影比賽靜態天體圖案類獲獎作品。 本影像攝於2021年10月意大利威尼託大區的多洛米蒂自然公園(Parco Naturale Dolomiti),展現拉瓦雷多三峰(Tre Cime di Lavaredo)上空的壯麗星野。 畫面左側明亮光點為木星,此時正位於摩羯座。木星右下方、摩羯座雙角星之間可見土星。木星上方延伸至水瓶座(黃道最大星座之一)區域。銀河左側北天區多為暗星,唯左上角泛白的飛馬座雙星"危宿三"(Enif)較醒目。 銀河如天界霧靄自岩峰升騰,其左右分別懸著牛郎星(Altair/河鼓二)與織女星(Vega/織女一)——這對被銀河分隔的"星界眷侶"呼應著中國七夕傳說。現代天文學將二者與畫面頂緣的天津四(Deneb)共組"夏季大三角",構成北半球經典星象。 牛郎星作為巴比倫鷹座(Aquila)主星,承載著《埃塔納史詩》中神鷹背負君王凌空瞰地的古老傳說。古羅馬時期,托勒密將鷹座下方新增的"安提諾烏斯"子星座(Antinous)解讀為溺亡尼羅河的哈德良皇帝寵臣之魂。 織女星(銀河右側亮白星體)隸屬天琴座,該星座以擁有行星狀星雲"環狀星雲"(Ring Nebula)聞名,展現恆星臨終時拋射氣體形成的瑰麗景象。 畫面右緣顯著彎曲排列的三星為大熊座北斗杓柄,其指向地平線附近的牧夫座主星大角星(Arcturus)。牧夫座風箏狀星群可能源自巴比倫神"恩利爾"(Enlil)的天界投影,後被羅馬人重構為駕馭"七牛星"(即北斗七星)的耕夫形象。 織女星正右方可見武仙座廣袤星域,其下方與牧夫座左側交界的半圓星群,則是希臘神話中克里特公主阿里阿德涅的冠冕——北冕座(Corona Borealis)。 畫面左下角雲層反光為人造光源所致。
Credit: Giorgia Hofer/IAU OAE

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