行星状星云Mz3：蚂蚁星云
(原标题: Planetary Nebula Mz3: The Ant Nebula)
2025-07-13
浏览次数: 1476
为什么这只蚂蚁不是一个大球体？行星状星云Mz3正被一颗类似太阳的恒星抛出，这颗恒星肯定是圆的。那么，为什么这些气体会形成一个明显不是圆形的蚂蚁状星云呢？线索可能包括每秒1000公里的喷出气体的速度，光年长的结构，以及星云中心的恒星的磁性。一个可能的答案是，Mz3隐藏着另一颗较暗的恒星，它的轨道靠近这颗明亮的恒星。另一种与之竞争的假说认为，中央恒星自身的旋转和磁场正在引导这些气体。由于中心恒星看起来与我们的太阳非常相似，天文学家希望对这只巨大的太空蚂蚁的历史的进一步了解可以为我们自己的太阳和地球的未来提供有用的见解。探索你的宇宙：随机APOD生成器
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Why isn't this ant a big sphere? Planetary nebula Mz3 is being cast off by a star similar to our Sun that is, surely, round. Why then would the gas that is streaming away create an ant-shaped nebula that is distinctly not round? Clues might include the high 1000-kilometer per second speed of the expelled gas, the light-year long length of the structure, and the magnetism of the star featured here at the nebula's center. One possible answer is that Mz3 is hiding a second, dimmer star that orbits close in to the bright star. A competing hypothesis holds that the central star's own spin and magnetic field are channeling the gas. Since the central star appears to be so similar to our own Sun, astronomers hope that increased understanding of the history of this giant space ant can provide useful insight into the likely future of our own Sun and Earth. Explore Your Universe: Random APOD Generator