Pressemeddelelse
Omega-tågens røgfyldte, lyserøde kerne
4. januar 2012
Et nyt billede af Omega-tågen, optaget af ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), er et af de skarpeste billeder af dette objekt, der nogensinde er blevet taget fra Jorden. Det viser de støvede, rosafarvede centrale dele af denne berømte stjernefødeklinik og afslører ekstraordinære detaljer i det kosmiske landskab af gasskyer, støv og nyfødte stjerner.
Den farverige gas og det mørke støv i Omega-tågen fungerer som råmateriale til dannelsen af den næste generation af stjerner. I denne del af stjernetågen lyser de nyeste stjerner på scenen op i hele ensemblet – blændende klare og skinnende blåhvide i farven. Stjernetågens røgagtige støvsløjfer står i silhuet mod den glødende gas. De dominerende rødlige farver i denne del af de skyagtige landskab kommer fra brintgas, der gløder, fordi den påvirkes af intense ultraviolette stråler fra de varme, unge stjerner.
Omega-tågen har mange navne, alt afhængig af hvem der observerede den hvornår, og hvad de syntes, de så. Dens andre navne omfatter Svane-tågen, Hestesko-tågen og endda Hummer-tågen. Objektet er også blevet katalogiseret som Messier 17 (M17) og NGC 6618. Stjernetågen befinder sig mellem 5.000 og 6.000 lysår væk i stjernebilledet Sagittarius (på dansk Skytten). Stjernetågen er et poplært mål for astronomer, og dette oplyste område med gas- og støv rangerer som en af de yngste og mest aktive stjernefødeklinikker for tunge stjerner i Mælkevejen.
Billedet er taget med FORS-instrumentet (FOcal Reducer and Spectrograph) på Antu, et af VLT’s fire enhedsteleskoper. Ud over det kæmpestore teleskop gjorde den usædvanligt stabile luft under observationerne det muligt at lave et meget skarpt billede [1] – også selvom der var nogle skyer på himlen. Som resultat er dette nye billede blandt de skarpeste af denne del af Omega-tågen, der nogensinde er taget fra Jorden.
Dette billede er et af de første, der er blevet til som led i ESO’s Cosmic Gems-program [2].
Noter
[1] ”Seeing” er et udtryk, som astronomer bruger som mål for den forstyrrende effekt af Jordens atmosfære. På den nat, hvor Omega-tågen blev observeret, var seeing rigtig god. Et almindeligt anvendt mål for seeing er en stjernes tilsyneladende diameter set gennem et teleskop. I dette tilfælde var målingerne af seeing meget gunstige på 0,45 buesekunder, hvilket betyder en meget lille udtværing og blinken af det observerede objekt.
[2] ESO’s Cosmic Gems-program er et nyt formidlingsinitiativ, der ved hjælp af ESO’s teleskoper skal producere interessante, fascinerende eller visuelt tiltalende billeder til brug for uddannelses- og formidlingsmæssige formål. Programmet gør brug af en lille del af observationstiden kombineret med ellers uudnyttet tid i teleskopernes tidsplan for at minimere indvirkningen på de videnskabelige observationer. Alle data bliver desuden gjort tilgængelige for professionelle astronomer gennem ESO’s videnskabelige arkiv.
Mere information
I år 2012 er der 50-års jubilæum for grundlæggelsen af det Europæiske Syd Observatorium (ESO). ESO er den mest fremtrædende internationale astronomi-organisation i Europa og verdens mest produktive astronomiske observatorium. ESO har i dag følgende 15 medlemslande: Belgien, Brasilien, Danmark, Finland, Frankrig, Holland, Italien, Portugal, Schweiz og Storbritannien, Spanien, Sverige, Tjekkiet, Tyskland og Østrig. ESO’s aktiviteter er fokuseret på design, konstruktion og drift af jordbaserede observationsfaciliteter for at muliggøre vigtige videnskabelige opdagelser inden for astronomi. ESO spiller også en ledende rolle for at fremme og organisere samarbejdet inden for astronomisk forskning. I Chile driver ESO tre unikke observatorier i verdensklasse: La Silla, Paranal og Chajnantor. På Paranal driver ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT), der er verdens mest avancerede astronomiske observatorium til observationer i synligt lys samt to kortlægningsteleskoper. VISTA arbejder i infrarødt lys og er verdens største kortlægningsteleskop, mens VLT Survey Telescope (VST) er det største teleskop, der udelukkende er bygget til at kortlægge himlen i synligt lys. ESO er den europæiske partner i et revolutionerede astronomisk teleskop kaldet ALMA, det største igangværende astronomiske projekt. ESO planlægger i øjeblikket et 40 meter optisk/nær-infrarødt teleskop kaldet European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), der vil blive ”verdens største øje mod himlen”.
Links
Kontakter
Richard Hook
ESO, La Silla, Paranal, E-ELT and Survey Telescopes Public Information Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6655
Mobil: +49 151 1537 3591
E-mail: rhook@eso.org
Ole J. Knudsen (Pressekontakt Danmark)
ESOs formidlingsnetværk
og Aarhus Space Centre, Aarhus Universitet
Aarhus, Danmark
Tel: +45 8715 5597
E-mail: eson-denmark@eso.org
Om pressemeddelelsen
| Pressemeddelelse nr.: | eso1201da |
| Navn: | M 17, Messier 17, NGC 6618, Omega Nebula |
| Type: | Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Star Formation |
| Facility: | Very Large Telescope |
| Instruments: | FORS2 |
Billeder
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