Svemirski teleskop James Webb (JWST) has taken near-infrared and mid-infrared images of the star-forming region NGC 604, located nearby in the neighbourhood of home galaksija. The images are most detailed ever and offer unique opportunity to study high concentration of massive, young stars in neighbouring galaxies to our home galaksija, the Milky Way.
The high concentration of massive zvijezde at relatively close distance, means the star-forming NGC 604 offers a unique opportunity to study stars early in their life. Sometimes, the ability to study nearby objects (such as star-forming region NGC 604) at an extremely high resolution can help better understand more distant objects.
Pogled blizu infracrvenog:
Ovu sliku NGC 604 snimila je NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) JWST.
Tendrils and clumps of emission that appear bright red, extending out from areas that look like clearings, or large bubbles in the nebula are the most noticeable features of the near-infrared image. Stellar winds from the brightest and hottest young zvijezde have carved out these cavities, while ultraviolet radiation ionizes the surrounding gas. This ionized hydrogen appears as a white and blue ghostly glow.
The bright, orange-coloured streaks signify the presence of carbon-based molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. This material plays an important role in the interstellar medium and the formation of stars and planeta, but its origin is a mystery.
The deeper red signifies molecular hydrogen as one travel farther from the immediate clearings of dust. This cooler gas is a prime environment for hvězda formacija.
Izvrsna rezolucija također pruža uvid u značajke koje su se prije činile nepovezane s glavnim oblakom. Na primjer, na Webbovoj slici postoje dvije svijetle, mlade zvijezde koje izrezuju rupe u prašini iznad središnje maglice, povezane difuznim crvenim plinom. U snimci vidljivog svjetla iz Hubble Prostor Telescope (HST), these appeared as separate splotches.
Srednji infracrveni pogled:
Ovu sliku NGC 604 napravio je MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) od JWST.
Primjetno je manje zvijezda u srednjem infracrvenom prikazu jer vruće zvijezde emitiraju puno manje svjetla na tim valnim duljinama, dok veći oblaci hladnijeg plina i prašine svijetle.
Some of the stars seen in this image, belonging to the surrounding galaksija, are red supergiants – stars that are cool but very large, hundreds of times the diameter of our Sun. Additionally, some of the background galaxies that appeared in the NIRCam image also fade.
Na MIRI slici, plave vitice materijala označavaju prisutnost PAH-ova.
Srednji infracrveni pogled također ilustrira novu perspektivu u raznoliku i dinamičnu aktivnost ove regije.
Područje stvaranja zvijezda NGC 604
The star-forming region NGC 604 is estimated to be around 3.5 million years old. The cloud of glowing gases extends to some 1,300 light-years across. Located 2.73 million light-years away in the nearby Triangulum galaksija, this region is large in extent and contains many more recently formed stars. Such regions are small-scale versions of more distant “starburst” galaxies, which underwent an extremely high rate of star formation.
U njegovim prašnjavim plinovitim omotačima nalazi se više od 200 najtoplijih, najmasovnijih vrsta zvijezda, sve u ranoj fazi svog života. Ovi tipovi zvijezda su B-tipovi i O-tipovi, od kojih potonji mogu imati više od 100 puta veću masu od našeg vlastitog Sunca.
Prilično je rijetko pronaći ovu koncentraciju u blizini svemir. In fact, there’s no similar region within our own Milky Way galaksija.
Ova koncentracija masivnih zvijezda, u kombinaciji s relativno malom udaljenošću, znači da NGC 604 daje astronomima priliku da proučavaju ove objekte u fascinantnom razdoblju ranog njihova života. Ponekad, mogućnost proučavanja obližnjih objekata kao što je područje stvaranja zvijezda NGC 604 u izuzetno visokoj rezoluciji može pomoći u boljem razumijevanju udaljenijih objekata.
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Reference:
Znanstveni institut za svemirski teleskop (STScI) 2024. Priopćenje za javnost – Zavirivanje u vitice NGC 604 s NASA-inim Webbom. 09. ožujka 2024. Dostupno na https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2024/news-2024-110.html
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