探测银河系核心

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来源:双子座天文台

银河系中心被数千光年的气体和尘埃所笼罩,长期以来一直难以研究。然而,在夏威夷莫纳克亚山上的双子座北望远镜初步测试期间获得的数据表明,这种情况即将改变。双子座先进的光学设备已经捕捉到我们星系难以捉摸的核心的最佳图像,揭示了在那里发生的令人惊讶的细节。

一项有趣的发现涉及银河系中心先前知之甚少的物体IRS8。虽然早期的图像仅显示出模糊不清的污迹,但来自双子座的数据显示,IRS8是一颗正在穿过气体和尘埃云的恒星(右图)。这种运动正在产生所谓的弓形激波,很像船在水中移动时船头前方形成的波浪。进一步的调查应该可以更好地理解云的特性和恒星周围的条件。


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双子座北望远镜是构成双子座8米天文台项目的两架八米望远镜之一。另一架双子座南望远镜位于智利中部的Cerro Pach。在两者都在明年某个时候达到全面科学运行后,它们将共同提供全天空覆盖。

Kate Wong is an award-winning science writer and senior editor at 大众科学 focused on evolution, ecology, anthropology, archaeology, paleontology and animal behavior. She is fascinated by human origins, which she has covered for more than 25 years. Recently she has become obsessed with birds. Her reporting has taken her to caves in France and Croatia that Neandertals once called home, to the shores of Kenya's Lake Turkana in search of the oldest stone tools in the world, to Madagascar on an expedition to unearth ancient mammals and dinosaurs, to the icy waters of Antarctica, where humpback whales feast on krill, and on a "Big Day" race around the state of Connecticut to find as many bird species as possible in 24 hours. Kate is co-author, with Donald Johanson, of Lucy's Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins. She holds a bachelor of science degree in biological anthropology and zoology from the University of Michigan. Follow Wong on X (formerly Twitter) @katewong

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