CG 4：球状体和银河系
(原标题: CG 4: The Globule and the Galaxy)
2026-03-11
浏览次数: 3260
这是一个宇宙怪物准备吞噬一个毫无戒心的星系吗？幸运的是，情况并非如此。在这张特色图片中显示的红色“怪物”是彗星球状星团cg4，距离我们1300光年远，位于犬座。cg4是一个分子云，在那里氢变得足够冷，可以形成分子，这些分子可以通过引力聚集在一起，形成恒星。cg4的形状类似于彗星，但它的头部直径为1.5光年，尾部长8光年；相比之下，地球到太阳的距离只有8光分。天文学家认为，彗星球状体的尾部可能是由附近的超新星爆炸或高温大质量恒星的辐射形成的。事实上，cg4和其他附近的小球体都指向远离船帆超新星遗迹的树胶星云中心。边缘上的螺旋星系ESO 257-19距离cg4超过1亿光年，完全不受“怪物”的影响。
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Is this a cosmic monster ready to devour an unsuspecting galaxy? Thankfully, that is not the case. The red “monster” shown in the featured image is Cometary Globule CG 4, 1,300 light-years away in the Constellation Puppis. CG 4 is a molecular cloud, where hydrogen becomes cold enough to form molecules that can be brought together by gravity to create stars. The shape of CG 4 resembles that of a comet, but its head is 1.5 light-year in diameter and its tail is 8 light-years long; for comparison, the distance from the Earth to the sun is only 8 light-minutes. Astronomers believe that the tail of a cometary globule could have been shaped by a nearby supernova explosion or by irradiation from hot, massive stars. Indeed, CG 4 and other nearby globules point away from the Vela Supernova Remnant, at the center of the Gum Nebula. The edge-on spiral galaxy, ESO 257-19, is more than a hundred million light-years beyond CG 4, and is completely safe from the “monster”.
© William Vrbasso