Color carina nebula

When astronomers want to observe all the stages of the birth and death of stars in the Milky Way, they usually turn their eyes to the huge Carina nebula in the center of Carina. It is often called keyhole nebula because its central region is keyhole-shaped. From any point of view, this emission nebula (so called because it emits light) is one of the largest nebulae that can be observed on earth, dwarfing the Orion Nebula in Orion. Observers in the northern hemisphere are not familiar with this huge molecular gas region because it is a celestial body in the southern hemisphere. It is located in the background of the Milky Way, and almost blends with the light belt across the sky.

Since its discovery, this huge cloud of gas and dust has been attracting astronomers. It provides them with a one-stop place to study the formation, formation and ultimate destruction of stars in the Milky Way.

The carina nebula is part of the launching arm at the bottom of the milky way galaxy. Our galaxy is spiral, with a set of spiral arms around a central core. Each group of arms has a specific name.

The submarine nebula is 6000 to 10000 light years away. It is very huge, spanning about 230 light years, and it is a very busy place. Within its boundaries are black clouds that are forming new stars, clusters of hot young stars, dying old stars, and the remnants of giant star planets that exploded into supernovae. Its most famous celestial body is the bright blue variable star carina Eta.

The submarine nebula was discovered by astronomer Nicolas Luis de Lacayi in 1752. He first observed it in South Africa. Since then, both ground and space telescopes have conducted in-depth research on this expanding nebula. Its star birth and death regions are attractive targets for Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory and many other telescopes.

The birth process of stars in Carina Nebula is the same as that of other gas clouds and dust clouds in the universe. The main component of the nebula-hydrogen-constitutes most of the cold molecular clouds in this area. Hydrogen is the main element of stars, which originated from the Big Bang about 65.438+0.37 billion years ago. Clouds are full of dust and other gases, such as oxygen and sulfur.

This nebula is full of cold black cloud gas and dust called "bok globule". They are named after the astronomer Dr. bart bok who first discovered them. This is the first sprout of a star, hidden out of people's sight. This photo shows three islands of gas and dust in the center of the submarine nebula. The process of star birth begins inside these nebulae because gravity pulls matter toward the center. As more gas and dust gather together and the temperature rises, a young stellar object (YSO) is born. Tens of thousands of years later, the temperature of the protostar in the center was high enough, and its core began to fuse with hydrogen and began to glow. The radiation from newborn stars will erode the newborn nebula and eventually destroy it completely. Ultraviolet rays from nearby stars also shaped the hotbed of star birth. This process is called photodissociation, which is a by-product of the birth of stars.

According to the mass of the nebula, the mass of the star born in the nebula may be equivalent to or even much larger than that of the sun. There are many very huge stars in the carina nebula. They burn very hot, very bright and have a short life span of only a few million years. Stars like the sun, more like yellow dwarfs, can live for billions of years. There are many stars in the Carina Nebula, which are born in batches and scattered in the universe.

When stars shape the birth clouds of gas and dust, they create amazing and beautiful shapes. In the submarine nebula, several areas are eroded by the radiation of nearby stars.

One of them is the mysterious mountain, which is a column of matter formed by stars and extends for three light years. All kinds of "peaks" in the mountains contain newly formed stars, which are devouring their own way out, while nearby stars are shaping the outside. At the top of some peaks, hidden nova spews out a stream of matter. Thousands of years later, this area will become the home of a small evacuation of young hot stars in the larger area of Carina Nebula. There are many clusters (combinations of stars) in the nebula, which makes astronomers understand how stars form together in galaxies.

The massive cluster called trumpler 14 is one of the largest clusters in the submarine nebula. It contains some of the largest and hottest stars in the galaxy. Trumpler 14 is an open cluster with a large number of glowing young stars in an area about 6 light years wide. It is part of a larger group of young hot stars, known as the Carina OB 1 Star Association. OB correlation is a collection of 10 to 100 young massive hot stars, which still gather together after birth.

The Carina OB 1 galaxy contains seven clusters, all of which were born at the same time. It also has a huge very hot star named HD 93 129Aa. Astronomers estimate that it is 2.5 million times brighter than the sun and is one of the youngest massive hot stars in the cluster. Trump 14 itself is only about 500,000 years old. In contrast, the Pleiades cluster in Taurus is about1.1.500 million years old. Young stars in the trumpler 14 cluster emit strong winds in the nebula, which also helps to shape gas clouds and dust.

Trump's star 14 years old is consuming nuclear fuel at an alarming rate. When their hydrogen is exhausted, they will start to consume helium in the core. Eventually, they will run out of fuel and collapse on their own. In the end, these giant monsters will explode with huge catastrophic explosions, which are called "supernova explosions". The shock wave generated by the explosion will send elements into space. These substances will enrich the formation of future stars in the Carina Nebula.

Interestingly, although many stars have formed in the trumpler 14 open cluster, there are still some gas and dust clouds left. One of them is a little black ball on the left in the middle. It is likely that more stars will be cultivated, and these stars will eventually eat their custard and shine for hundreds of thousands of years.

Not far from Trump 14 is a massive cluster named Trump 16, which is also a part of the Carina OB 1 galaxy. Like its neighbors, this open cluster is full of fast-living stars, which will die when they are young. One of the stars is a bright blue variable star named Carina II.

This huge star (one of the binary stars) has been undergoing drastic changes, which is the prelude to its death. Sometime in the next 654.38 million+years, it will have a huge supernova explosion, called a super supernova. 65438+1940s brightened and became the second brightest star in the sky. After nearly 100 years, its light gradually dimmed, and it didn't start to brighten until the 1940s. Even now, it is a powerful star. It radiates 5 million times as much energy as the sun, although it is preparing for the ultimate destruction.

The second of these two stars is also very huge-about 30 times the mass of the sun-but it is hidden by the gas and dust of the main star. This cloud is called a "dwarf" because it seems to have a shape close to that of human beings. Its irregular appearance is a bit mysterious; No one knows exactly why the explosion cloud around carina and its companion star has two lobes and knots in the middle.

When eta at the base of the ship explodes, it will become the brightest object in the sky. After a few weeks, it will gradually disappear. The remnants of the protostar (or two stars, if both stars explode) will rush out of the nebula in the form of shock waves. Eventually, these substances will become the cornerstone of a new generation of stars in the distant future.

Astronomical enthusiasts who venture to the northern hemisphere and the whole southern hemisphere can easily find this nebula at the center of the constellation. It is very close to the Southern Cross, also known as the Southern Cross. Carina nebula is a good object for naked eye observation, and it will be better if you use binoculars or small telescopes. Observers with large telescopes can spend a lot of time exploring Trump Cluster, Dwarf Cluster, Eta Carina and the keyhole area in the center of the nebula. Summer and early autumn in the southern hemisphere (winter and early spring in the northern hemisphere) are the best time to observe nebulae.

For amateur and professional observers, the Carina Nebula provides an opportunity to see areas similar to those where our sun and planets were born billions of years ago. By studying the star birth region of this nebula, astronomers can learn more about the process of star birth and how stars gather together after birth.

In the distant future, observers will also see a star in the center of the nebula explode and die, completing the cycle of star life.