2008十大热门太空图片 TOP TEN SPACE PHOTOS 太空

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TOP TEN SPACE PHOTOS: Most Viewed of 2008
美国媒体评出年度十大热门太空图片(组图)

更多内容:《国家地理》评出2007年度十大太空照片
10. 超新星在太空“编织”红色“丝带”

超新星在太空“编织”红色“丝带”

　　在这张由“哈勃”拍摄的图片中，我们看到的是一条由氢气构成的红飘带，在星辰中间尽情飘荡，从外观上看，它与花车尾部摆动摇曳的丝带极为相象。在《国家地理》杂志评选的年度十大热门太空图片排行榜中，这张于7月公布的展现超新星残余的图片顺利赶上末班车。红色丝带实际上是恒星爆炸时产生的冲击波，它的边缘点缀着明亮的斑纹，此时冲击坡的侧边正移向“哈勃”的视线.



10. Supernova Creates "Ribbon" in Space

Like a ribbon trailing from a parade float, a streamer of hydrogen gas seems to waft across the stars in an image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Released in July, this festive shot of a supernova remnant was National Geographic News's tenth most viewed space photo of 2008.

Bright stripes within the ribbon—which is actually the shock wave from the stellar explosion—appear where the wave is moving edge-on to Hubble's line of sight.

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9. 首张太阳系外行星图片

首张太阳系外行星图片

　　位于图片中央状似“大火球”的天体乃是太阳系外的一颗恒星，从表面上看，它似乎是这张图片的主角，但事实并非如此，真正的主角是位于其上方的颜色暗淡的小点，它可能是绕这颗恒星轨道运行的一颗行星。这张图片的重要意义在于：它可能是有史以来对太阳系外绕类日恒星运行的一颗行星进行的第一次直接观察。
　　这张于9月公布的红外图片是由位于夏威夷的双子座天文台拍摄的。当时，天文学家并不确定这个天体究竟是一颗行星还是一颗类行星天体，如果真的饶这颗恒星轨道运行，它还会继续在天文学家的视线中出现。两个月之后，独立研究小组公布了利用两架地面望远镜拍摄的第一张系外多行星系统红外图片，以及哈勃太空望远镜拍摄的第一张系外行星的可见光图片。



9. First Picture of Alien Planet Orbiting Sunlike Star?

A faint dot above a blazing inferno is possibly the first direct view of a planet outside our solar system orbiting a sunlike star.

The infrared image, taken by the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, was released in September. At the time astronomers weren't sure whether the body was a planet or a planetlike object, and it remains to be seen if it is truly orbiting the star.

Two months later independent teams announced the first infrared image of an alien multiplanet system, taken using a pair of ground-based telescopes, as well as the first visible-light picture of an extrasolar planet, snapped by the Hubble Space Telescope.

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8. 与黑洞上演有史以来最亲密接触

与黑洞上演有史以来最亲密接触

　　借助位于夏威夷、亚利桑那州和加利福尼亚州的地面射电望远镜，天文学家对位于银河系中心的超大质量黑洞进行了探测。虽然还无法直接看到黑洞的真面部，但我们仍可以看到被称之为“人马座A*”的射电辐射形成的亮区。人马座A*可能是旋向这个黑洞的一个物质盘或者这个黑洞喷射的高速物质喷流。于9月公布这张图片的天文学家指出，进一步研究人马座A*将帮助我们了解“物质被拖向黑洞并最终永远消失过程中到底发生了什么”。


8. Black Hole Seen in Closest Look Ever

Ground-based radio telescopes in Hawaii, Arizona, and California combined forces to examine the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

Although by definition we can't see a black hole directly, we can see the bright region of radio emissions known as Sagittarius A* that's thought to be either a disk of matter swirling toward the black hole, or a high-speed jet of matter being ejected from it.

Astronomers who released the image in September noted that further study of Sagittarius A* should help us understand "what happens as matter is drawn near to the black hole and disappears forever."

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7. 状如警车顶灯的超新星残余

状如警车顶灯的超新星残余

　　这张合成图片是美国宇航局于6月公布的，我们在图片中看到的是1000 多年前爆炸的一颗恒星的超新星残余物。现在，恒星爆炸产生的冲击波仍以每小时大约600万英里(每小时960万公里)的速度在太空中穿行，所到之处的气体被加热并产生可见光辐射。



7. New Supernova "Gumball" Picture

The remnant of a supernova, first seen from Earth more than a thousand years ago, hangs like a gumball in a composite image released by NASA in June.

The blast wave from the stellar explosion is still traveling at about 6 million miles (9.6 million kilometers) an hour, heating gases along its path that emit radiation as visible light.

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6. 新南风车星系图片

新南风车星系图片

　　美国宇航局于4月公布了这张图片，图片展示了位于南风车星系的“婴儿级”恒星正在成形。天文学家经研究发现，“婴儿级”恒星形成区位于该星系的纺锤形臂部(图片中的红色区域)而不是心脏地带。当时，科学家曾用“绝对令人吃惊”来描述这一发现，原因在于：人们一直认为类似这样的星系偏远地带缺少形成恒星的必要物质。


6. New Picture of the Pinwheel Galaxy

An image released by NASA in April shows baby stars taking shape in the Southern Pinwheel galaxy.

Embryonic stars were found to be growing in the galaxy's spindly arms (shown in red), rather than in its bright heart.

Scientists at the time described the find as "absolutely stunning," because it was believed that such outlying sections of galaxies lacked the necessary materials for star formation.

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5. 新火卫一高清晰图片

新火卫一高清晰图片

　　4月，绕火星轨道运行的HiRISE照相机，对火星的卫星——火卫一“弗伯斯”(Phobos，希腊神话中的恐惧之神)进行了高清晰成像。这张伪色图片展示的是火卫一最为重要的地形特征——斯蒂克尼陨坑。导致斯蒂克尼陨坑形成的撞击据信破坏了火卫一近17英里(27公里)宽的区域。


5. New Hi-Res Views of Mars's ''Fear'' Moon Unveiled

In April the Mars-orbiting HiRISE camera caught new high-resolution snapshots of Phobos, a Martian moon named for the Greek god of horror.

The tiny moon's most prominent feature is Stickney Crater, pictured above in false color. The impact that created Stickney is thought to have almost shattered the roughly 17-mile-wide (27-kilometer-wide) moon.

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4. 在地球拍摄的最为清晰的木星图片

在地球拍摄的最为清晰的木星图片

　　这张新木星全景图于10月公布，是迄今为止在地球上拍摄的最为清晰的气态巨型行星——木星图片。天文学家说，借助于计算机辅助程序调整因地球大气层导致的失真，位于智利的一架地面望远镜拍下了这张木星图片，其清晰程度绝对可以与在太空拍摄的同类图片一较高下。在这张图片中，我们能够看到最小宽度180英里(300公里)的区域的特征。


4. NEW JUPITER IMAGE: Sharpest View Ever From Earth

Jupiter looks sharp in the crispest whole-planet picture of the gas giant ever shot from Earth, released in October.

The picture was taken using a computer-assisted process that adjusts for distortions caused by Earth's atmosphere, allowing a ground-based telescope in Chile to snap shots rivaling those taken from space, astronomers said.

In Jupiter's case, the result shows features as small as 180 miles (300 kilometers) across.

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3. 肉眼可见的伽马射线爆发

肉眼可见的伽马射线爆发

　　3月，科学家发现一次亮度极高，能够暂时用肉眼进行观察的星际爆炸，爆炸发生区域距地球75亿光年。文中的这两张图片是美国宇航局的“雨燕”卫星拍摄的，展示的是不同寻常的伽马射线爆发——伽马射线爆发是在一颗大质量恒星塌陷后出现的高能辐射和粒子迸发。此次爆发打破了M33星系创造的肉眼可见的最远天体纪录，将这一纪录提高了3个数量级。


3. Gamma-Ray Burst Visible to Naked Eye

In March scientists detected an interstellar explosion so bright that it was briefly visible to the naked eye—from 7.5 billion light-years away.

Images captured by NASA's Swift satellite show two views of the unusual gamma-ray burst, an outpouring of high-energy radiation and particles thought to follow the collapse of a massive star.

The burst crushed the previous record holder for most distant object visible without assistance—the galaxy M33—by three orders of magnitude.

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2. 首次发现火星山崩

首次发现火星山崩

　　在首次拍到火星正在发生的山崩的图片之后，美国宇航局科学家一定陷入无比兴奋当中。这张图片是由绕火星轨道运行的“火星侦察轨道器”所携带的HiRISE(高清晰成像科学实验的英文缩写)照相机拍摄的。此次山崩发生在这颗红色星球北极附近地区一高耸的山坡底部，图片中我们能够清晰地看到尘土遮天的壮观景象。HiRISE项目组成员英格里德·道巴尔·斯比塔莱当时曾表示：“看到火星发生如此剧烈的现象非常令人兴奋，我们眼中的火星很多区域数百万年来一直没有出现任何变化。”



2. First Mars Avalanches Seen In Action

NASA scientists might have been yodeling for joy in March when they saw the first-ever picture of active landslides occurring on Mars.

Snapped by the Mars-orbiting HiRISE camera, billowing clouds of dust revealed the action at the base of a towering slope near the red planet's north pole.

"It's great to see something so dynamic on Mars," HiRISE team member Ingrid Daubar Spitale noted at the time. "A lot of what we see there hasn't changed for millions of years."

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1. 金星、木星、月球构成笑脸

金星、木星、月球构成笑脸

　　在年度十大热门太空图片排行榜中，金星、木星和月球于12月1日献上的笑脸图力挫其它对手，稳坐头把交椅。在这张于菲律宾马尼拉拍摄的图片中，我们可以清晰地看到金星、木星和月球在天空中形成一张笑脸。此次会合现象出现时，亚洲人显然是幸运的，因为他们看到的是一张笑脸，而美国的星空守望者等来的却是眉头紧皱。有人开玩笑地说，上帝可能对美国不太满意。


1. Venus, Jupiter, Moon Smile on Earth

The heavens smiled down on Earth December 1 in National Geographic News's most viewed space photo of 2008. The celestial smiley face is the result of a planetary conjunction between Venus, Jupiter, and the moon, shown here over Manila in the Philippines.