“Witch Head” Brews Baby Stars

“女巫头”孕育新恒星

A witch appears to be screaming out into space in this new image from NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. The infrared portrait shows the Witch Head nebula, named after its resemblance to the profile of a wicked witch. Astronomers say the billowy clouds of the nebula, where baby stars are brewing, are being lit up by massive stars. Dust in the cloud is being hit with starlight, causing it to glow with infrared light, which was picked up by WISE’s detectors.

图为美国国家航空航天局（NASA）广域红外线巡天探测卫星（Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer）最新拍摄的一幅星云图，好似一个女巫仰天长啸的侧影，故被命名为女巫头星云（Witch Head Nebula）。天文学家指出，孕育新恒星的翻滚波动的星云云雾正在被巨大的恒星照亮。广域红外线巡天探测卫星捕捉到了云雾中的尘埃被恒星光线击中后发出的红外光线。

The Witch Head nebula is estimated to be hundreds of light-years away in the Orion constellation, just off the famous hunter’s knee.

据估计，女巫头星云位于数百光年以外著名的猎户星座（Orion constellation），位于猎户的膝盖旁。

WISE was recently “awakened” to hunt for asteroids in a program called NEOWISE. The reactivation came after the spacecraft was put into hibernation in 2011, when it completed two full scans of the sky as planned.

广域红外线巡天探测卫星于最近被“唤醒”，参加近地天体广域红外线巡天探测卫星（NEOWISE）项目寻找小行星。该航天器在完成两次太空全面扫描的预定任务后于2011年暂停运行，现已再次被启动。

starlight ['stɑ:lait] video n. 星光adj. 有星光的；星光照耀的

awaken [ə'weikən] video vt. 唤醒；唤起；使…意识到vi. 觉醒；醒来；意识到

constellation [,kɔnstə'leiʃən] video n. [天] 星座；星群；荟萃；兴奋丛

wick [wik] video n. 灯芯，蜡烛心vt. 依靠毛细作用带走

estimate ['estimeit] video vi. 估计，估价n. 估计，估价；判断，看法vt. 估计，估量；判断，评价

detector [di'tektə] video n. 检测器；发现者；侦察器

brew [bru:] video vt. 酿造；酝酿vi. 酿酒；被冲泡；即将发生n. 啤酒；质地

witch [witʃ] video n. 巫婆，女巫vt. 迷惑；施巫术

spacecraft ['speiskrɑ:ft, -kræft] video n. [航] 宇宙飞船，航天器

infrared [,infrə'red] video n. 红外线adj. 红外线的