欣赏哈勃望远镜捕捉到的六次星系碰撞的壮丽景象

这些合并可以教会我们恒星是如何诞生的。

作者：Jessica Boddy

发布于 2021年1月11日晚上11:00 EST

Interacting galaxies seen among stars through a telescope — 这张图片由安装在NASA/ESA哈勃太空望远镜上的广域相机3（WFC3）和高级巡天相机（ACS）拍摄，展示了奇特的星系NGC 3256。ESA/Hubble, NASA

为了迎接新年，NASA和欧洲航天局（ESA）发布了六张引人入胜的星系碰撞图片。这些景象由哈勃太空望远镜拍摄，是最近HiPEEC（哈勃极端环境和星系团成像探测器）探测项目的一部分，该项目旨在研究在这些系统中恒星形成的速度。

像图中描绘的合并事件并不常见，它们对于了解恒星是如何诞生的非常有价值。“这些系统是研究在极端物理条件下星团形成过程的绝佳实验室，”ESA在一份声明中说。

当这些罕见的碰撞发生时，会产生令人震惊的密集而明亮的恒星斑块——你可以在这一系列图片中看到这些明亮的光点，仿佛它们是由暴力合并产生的闪耀荣誉徽章。相比之下，在我们银河系中，这些被称为星团的明亮斑块质量是我们太阳的1万倍。但在这些能量充沛的星系碰撞中，星团的质量可以达到我们太阳质量的数百万倍。

这些超大质量星团会持续存在。正如ESA所说，“即使在碰撞之后，当resulting星系系统开始进入一个更平静的阶段时，这些非常大质量的星团仍将在其宿主星系中闪耀，作为过去合并事件的持久见证。”

通过使用紫外和近红外相机观测这些星团，哈勃科学家可以辨别它们的年龄和质量，这有助于他们了解恒星形成的速度快慢。当试图了解整个恒星系统是如何诞生时，这只是其中的一小部分。

你可以在下方查看所有碰撞的图片，以及哈勃拍摄到的以前碰撞星系的图片。

The galaxy system NGC 1614 has a bright optical centre and two clear inner spiral arms that are fairly symmetrical. It also has a spectacular outer structure that consists principally of a large one-sided curved extension of one of these arms to the lower right, and a long, almost straight tail that emerges from the nucleus and crosses the extended arm to the upper right. The galaxy appears to be the result of a tidal interaction and the resulting merger of two predecessor systems. The system has a nuclear region of quasar-like luminosity, but shows no direct evidence for an active nucleus. It is heavily and unevenly reddened across its nucleus, while infrared imaging also shows a "ridge" of dust. The linear "tail" to the upper right and extended arms to the lower right are likely the remains of an interacting companion and the tidal plume(s) caused by the collision. NGC 1614 is located about 200 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Eridanus, the River. — 星系系统NGC 1614位于距离地球2亿光年的地方，拥有一个异常明亮的中心。它位于天炉座（Eridanus），又称“河流”。NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)

The galaxy pictured in this Hubble Picture of the Week has an especially evocative name: the Medusa merger. Often referred to by its somewhat drier New General Catalogue designation of NGC 4194, this was not always one entity, but two. An early galaxy consumed a smaller gas-rich system, throwing out streams of stars and dust out into space. These streams, seen rising from the top of the merger galaxy, resembles the writhing snakes that Medusa, a monster in ancient Greek mythology, famously had on her head in place of hair, lending the object its intriguing name. The legend of Medusa also held that anyone who saw her face would transform into stone. In this case, you can feast your eyes without fear on the centre of the merging galaxies, a region known as Medusa's eye. All the cool gas pooling here has triggered a burst of star formation, causing it to stand out brightly against the dark cosmic backdrop. The Medusa merger is located about 130 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major (The Great Bear). — 这个星系被称为“美杜莎合并”，或者不太令人兴奋的名字，NGC 4194。它形成于一个年轻星系吞噬了一个较小的富含气体的系统，并将恒星和尘埃流抛入太空。这些流看起来像古代希腊神话中怪物美杜莎头上的蛇，取代了她的头发。美杜莎合并位于距离大熊座（Ursa Major）约1.3亿光年的地方。 ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Adamo

This system consists of a pair of galaxies, dubbed IC 694 and NGC 3690, which made a close pass some 700 million years ago. As a result of this interaction, the system underwent a fierce burst of star formation. In the last fifteen years or so six supernovae have popped off in the outer reaches of the galaxy, making this system a distinguished supernova factory. — 这个系统由一对星系组成，被称为IC 694和NGC 3690，它们在大约7亿年前擦肩而过。由于这次相互作用，该系统经历了剧烈的恒星形成爆发。在过去的十五年左右，外围区域发生了六次超新星爆发，使该系统成为一个杰出的超新星工厂。NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)

Located in the constellation of Hercules, about 230 million light-years away, NGC 6052 is a pair of colliding galaxies. They were first discovered in 1784 by William Herschel and were originally classified as a single irregular galaxy because of their odd shape. However, we now know that NGC 6052 actually consists of two galaxies that are in the process of colliding. This particular image of NGC 6052 was taken using the Wide Field Camera 3 on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. — NGC 6052位于武仙座（Hercules），距离约2.3亿光年，是一对碰撞中的星系。 ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Adamo et al.

Appearing within the boundless darkness of space, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s snapshot of NGC 34 looks more like an otherworldly, bioluminescent creature from the deep oceans than a galaxy. Lying in the constellation Cetus (The Sea Monster), the galaxy’s outer region appears almost translucent, pinpricked with stars and strange wispy tendrils. The main cause for this galaxy’s odd appearance lies in its past. If we were able to reverse time by a few million years, we would see two beautiful spiral galaxies on a direct collision course. When these galaxies collided into one another, their intricate patterns and spiral arms were permanently disturbed. This image shows the galaxy's bright centre, a result of this merging event that has created a burst of new star formation and lit up the surrounding gas. As the galaxies continue to intertwine and become one, NGC 34’s shape will become more like that of an peculiar galaxy, devoid of any distinct shape. In the vastness of space, collisions between galaxies are quite rare events, but they can be numerous in mega-clusters containing hundreds or even thousands of galaxies. — NGC 34位于鲸鱼座（Cetus），或称“海怪”。这张图片显示了星系明亮的中心，这是由星系碰撞产生的，引发了新的恒星形成爆发，并照亮了周围的气体。 ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Adamo et al.

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