宇宙中隐藏的星系 IC 342

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隐藏的星系 IC 342

图片来源与版权：Ed Henry（Hay Creek 天文台）

Explanation Similar in size to other large, bright spiral galaxies, IC 342 is a mere 7 million light-years distant in the long-necked, northern constellation Camelopardalis. A sprawling island universe, IC 342 would otherwise be a prominent galaxy in our night sky, but it is almost hidden from view behind the veil of stars, gas and dust clouds in the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Even though IC 342's light is dimmed by intervening cosmic clouds, this remarkably sharp telescopic image traces the galaxy's own obscuring dust, blue star clusters, and glowing pink star forming regions along spiral arms that Wind far from the galaxy's core. IC 342 may have undergone a recent burst of star formation activity and is close enough to have gravitationally influenced the evolution of the local group of galaxies and the Milky Way.

解说：IC 342 和其他大型明亮的螺旋星系的大小相当，距离北方天穹细长的鹿豹座只有 7 百万光年。原本 IC 342 这个庞大的偏居一隅的宇宙空间会成为我们看到的夜空中一个永久的星系，但它被银河系大圆盘中的恒星、气体和尘埃云遮蔽着，几乎看不见。即使 IC 342 的光芒受到星际云的干涉而变暗了，但这幅高灵敏度望远镜照片抓拍到了该星系自身沿着从星系核心向外扩散的螺旋臂的模糊尘埃、蓝色恒星星系和泛着光芒的粉色恒星形成区域。IC 342 也许最近经历了一次恒星形成活动的爆发，而且和该处的星系群及银河系的距离很近，足以产生应力作用，影响它们的演化