Tempel 2的混乱时刻
(原标题: A Messier Moment for Tempel 2)
2026-08-08
浏览次数: 1517
下面哪个不是彗星？你猜对了，右边的是一个球状星团。画面左侧是周期彗星10P/Tempel 2弥漫的绿色彗发。事实上，这个球状星团是梅西耶30，也被称为M30，或者是天文学家查尔斯·梅西耶（Charles Messier）的非彗星目录中的第30个条目。这位18世纪著名的天文学家记录了他所观察到的天体，也就是他现在著名的《梅西耶星云和星团目录》，这些天体并没有在背景恒星的衬托下一夜又一夜地移动，因此不是他正在寻找的彗星。所以这位著名的彗星猎人也会得到正确的答案，即使他的望远镜在他的视野中显示10P/Tempel 2和遥远的星团都是类似的模糊物体。这张拍摄于7月29日的现代望远镜图像，捕捉到了周期彗星坦普尔2号在天空中掠过M30的瞬间。虽然这颗周期性彗星的微弱、狭窄的轨道尘埃轨迹似乎穿透了球状星团，但坦普尔2号距离它只有3.5光分。梅西耶30距离我们大约28000光年。
查看原文解释
Which of these is not a comet? You guessed it - the one on the right is a globular star cluster. The diffuse greenish coma of periodic comet 10P/Tempel 2 is at left in the frame. In fact the globular star cluster is Messier 30, also known as M30, or the 30th entry in astronomer Charles Messier's catalog of things which are not comets. The well-known 18th century astronomer kept a list of objects he observed, now his famous Messier Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters, which did not move from night to night against the background stars and so were not the comets he was hunting for. So the famous comet hunter would get the correct answer too, even though his telescope would show both 10P/Tempel 2 and distant star cluster as similar looking faint and fuzzy objects in his field of view. Recorded on July 29, this modern telescopic image captures periodic comet Tempel 2 as it briefly swept close on the sky to M30. While the periodic comet's faint, narrow, orbital dust trail seems to pierce the globular star cluster, Tempel 2 was a mere 3.5 light-minutes away. Messier 30 is some 28,000 light-years distant.
© Dan Bartlett