Caption: 2022年国际天文学联合会（IAU）OAE天文摄影比赛静态天体图案类别获奖作品。 这张照片2016年7月拍摄于肯尼亚安博塞利国家公园，该公园位于赤道附近。 在北非的埃及神话中，银河被看作神灵所航行的河流。南非的祖鲁人将这种由明暗星云组成的图案解释为一种皮肤黑白相间的动物，而南非的科伊科伊人和桑人则认为它是“星路”。在南非的一些文化中，银河的拱门是一位母神创造的通往天堂的道路——这是19世纪的早期人类学研究所采纳的一个南非创世神话，但这一神话如今已经消失。 在照片的右中部，我们可以看到现代天蝎座中明亮的红色恒星心宿二。照片左上角边缘是白色的织女星，开普敦附近的人认为它是雄性的骏马。 澳大利亚原住民对银河有很多称呼。澳大利亚北领地阿纳姆地区的约尔努（Yolnu）人称呼银河为“Milnguya”，意为“天河”。这张照片中的一个突出图案与银河的明暗区域对比有关。 这些暗区是由星际尘埃和气体组成的低温致密云团，阻挡了其背后恒星发出的光线。其中一个突出的图案被澳大利亚南部几个土著民族称为“Tchingal”，意为“天上的鸸鹋”。鸸鹋的头部和嘴部（即煤袋星云）位于南十字座（照片右下角）的左下方，身体和腿部则从南十字座向左延伸。其他原住民群体则将暗区与洞穴或水道联系在一起。鸸鹋一年四季的朝向提供了重要的线索，表明什么时候应该采集鸸鹋蛋，什么时候鸸鹋蛋开始孵化。在某些月份，当这些银河暗云靠近地平线时，人们则认为它们不是鸸鹋，而是两条匍匐前进的鳄鱼。 在银河系中心的上方，可以清楚地看到黑暗的烟斗星云的现代形象。银河上方那颗橙红色的恒星是天蝎座的心宿二，而烟斗的烟雾可以到达心宿二旁边色彩斑斓的蛇夫座ρ区域。波隆人把心宿二称为“Djuit”，意为“红腰鹦鹉”；而西部沙漠的科卡塔人则把心宿二称为“Kogolongo”，意为“红尾黑凤头鹦鹉”。 此外，照片中还可以看到一些著名的星座：天鹅座、天鹰座、天琴座、天蝎座、人马座、南十字座和半人马座。在南非的一些传统中，指针星——半人马座α星（南门二）和β星（马腹一）偶尔被视为野兽的眼睛。
Credit: Amirreza Kamkar/IAU OAE

Caption: 在 2022 年 IAU OAE 天文摄影大赛中荣获荣誉提名，类别：天体图案静态图像 这张照片拍摄于 2022 年 1 月的伊拉克南部，展示了该地区众多古代遗迹之一在晴朗夜空下的景象，该遗迹看起来像一座巴比伦的金字形神塔（Ziggurat）。早在文字发明之前，苏美尔人就已经建造了这些类似山丘的建筑。最早的金字形神塔可追溯至公元前 4000 年左右。它们的外形类似于截顶金字塔，在巴比伦时期，顶部通常建有神庙。在金字形神塔的台阶旁，可以看到黄道带最南端的星座，这些星座也是由巴比伦人定义的。今天，我们称它们为摩羯座（左侧，有一颗行星位于其中）和人马座。人马座中最亮的星星组成了著名的“茶壶”星群。对巴比伦人而言，人马座代表着神祇 Pabilsag，他是 Larak 城的守护神，同时也是农业与战争之神。他还是强大神医女神 Gula 的丈夫。在巴比伦的神话中，Pabilsag 的形象是一种混合生物，具有人的上半身和头部，但下半身是四足的马身，并拥有两只巨大翅膀和两条尾巴——一条马尾和一条蝎子尾巴。这种生物在希腊神话中并不存在，因此希腊人将其简化为他们熟悉的形象——一个持弓的半人马。然而，这个形象在希腊文化中仍然显得不太合理，因为在希腊神话中，半人马通常被认为是野蛮、残暴的生物，不足以使用弓箭。因此，在希腊文化中同时还存在另一个版本的形象：一个双腿末端长着蹄子的人，即萨梯（Satyr）。然而，这一形象在罗马时代逐渐消失了。 摩羯座是黄道十二宫中最稳定的外来生物之一，千百年来一直保持不变。它被描绘成一种混合生物，前半部分是山羊，后半部分是鱼。因此，这个星座被称为“山羊鱼座”（Goat-Fish）。自巴比伦最早的天文学文献以来，这一星座就已被确认。在巴比伦宗教中，摩羯座代表一种性情温和、仁慈的守护神，它保护人类，促进一切治愈过程，并陪伴着智慧与巫术之神。希腊人直接接受了这一形象，并为其创造了神话故事。在罗马时代，摩羯座变得极为著名，因为罗马皇帝奥古斯都将其作为个人象征，并将其铸刻在钱币和其他政治宣传工具上。 在人马座的范围内，还能看到银河系明亮的中央凸起。然而，在这张照片中银河几乎不可见，这是现代文明的影响所致。由于地球上大量的人工光源照亮了夜空，使得人类居住区难以看到银河。
Credit: Ruqayah Mohammed/IAU OAE

Caption: 荣获 2022 年 IAU OAE 天文摄影大赛冠军，类别：天体图案静态图像。 这张照片拍摄于 2022 年 5 月，展示了壮丽的银河带以及一系列具有文化意义的星空图案。照片取自拉帕尔马岛 罗克·德·洛斯穆查乔斯天文台（Roque de los Muchachos Observatory）的一处高海拔位置，从这里可以俯瞰云层之下的景象。画面中突出的星空图案包括 天蝎座、射手座、天琴座、天鹅座、天鹰座，以及 夏季大三角 和 茶壶星群 等著名星座和星群。 由于加那利群岛曾是欧洲水手探索世界的起点，我们借此地来指向他们所遇到的众多原住民文化。值得注意的是，银河带中的黑暗图案 对世界各地的原住民文化具有重要意义。这些黑暗区域实际上是由致密、寒冷的气体和尘埃云组成，它们遮挡了恒星的光芒。许多原住民文化将这些黑暗区域视作洞穴、水道或各种特定的图案，与他们的神话和传统紧密相关。 这些星座和图案对不同的人有着不同的文化意义和解释。例如，波利尼西亚人将天蝎座称为半神毛伊的鱼钩。阿纳姆地的约尔努（Yolnu）人将天蝎座与一种叫做 Ingalpir 的鳄鱼联系在一起。一些澳大利亚原住民部落还将天蝎座中的个别恒星与神话故事相结合，其中最著名的是心宿二，它是图像右上方银河带上方的一颗橙红色恒星。在天蝎旁边和明亮的银河中心上方，有一片显眼的黑暗星云，现代天文摄影师称之为烟斗星云。这个烟斗吐出的烟雾一直延伸到蛇夫座的 ρ 星。在某些部落的文化中，银河中的所有黑暗星云共同构成了“天穹的脊梁”，而在南非祖鲁族的传统中，它们则象征着一种黑白相间的动物。 明亮恒星的命名也具有跨文化的渊源。例如，画面顶部的那颗明亮蓝色恒星织女星（Vega），其名称源自阿拉伯语 waqi，完整的词组 al-nasr al-waqi 意为“俯冲的鹰”（指其为了捕猎而向下俯冲）。这与另一颗名字同样源自阿拉伯语的恒星牛郎星（Altair） 形成对比，后者意为“飞翔的鹰”。心宿二（Antares） 这一名称源自希腊语，意为“类似火星的那颗星”，因为它的颜色与火星相近。而天蝎座尾部的沙乌拉（Shaula） 之名，则是对古巴比伦甚至更早的苏美尔星名的现代化版本。
Credit: Amirreza Kamkar/IAU OAU

Caption: 2022 年国际天文学联合会 OAE 天体摄影比赛静态天体图案类获奖作品。 这幅照片摄于 2021 年 4 月从中国老君山山顶的全景影像展现了老君山玉皇顶上空银河拱桥与皓月同辉的奇景。在中国传统文化中，银河被视为分隔牛郎星（Altair/河鼓二）与织女星（Vega/织女一）的天界江河，其北侧暗云区的"天汉津渡"（对应现代天鹅座区域）相传为鹊桥相会处。 由于我们无法分辨所有的恒星，只能看到恒星发出的光的积累，因此，即便银河是一个圆盘状的星系，但因太阳系身处其旋臂内部，而我们的夜空中呈现为拱形光带，其乳白色辉光实为无数恒星累积的星光。它在不同文化的宗教和神话中有着不同的描述。现代的银河一词来源于希腊民间传说，它将其解释为赫拉女神哺育赫拉克勒斯时溅洒的乳汁。这位宙斯与凡间女子所生之子被放置在她身边（趁她沉睡时），但由于他强烈的吮吸，赫拉惊醒并发现自己正在哺育陌生婴孩，便立即将其推开。柏拉图等希腊哲学家认为天空中这条闪烁的光带是太阳昔日路径的痕迹。 另一方面，在南美洲的图皮-瓜拉尼（Tupi-Guarani）原住民神话中，银河被称为“貘之路”。对某些澳大利亚原住民而言，若银河高悬天际，其暗云勾勒出鸸鹋的轮廓；若低垂于地平线，则形似鳄鱼。在众多非洲南部、南美洲和澳大利亚文化中，银河被视为通往天堂或从天堂返回的路径。在图像的右边缘，我们可以辨认出现代星座天蝎座（Scorpius）及其最著名的恒星——心宿二（Antares）。这颗略带红色的恒星恰好位于银河上方。 图像底部中央最明亮的点是正在升起的月亮，其旁为木星。图中还可辨识出若干星座，包括右下方呈微弱弧形的南冕座（Corona Australis）。南冕座上方可见人马座（Sagittarius）中的“茶壶”星群。由于人马座紧邻银河系中心，其区域内存在众多天体结构，如恒星形成区、球状星团和行星状星云。人马座中还藏有一个质量为太阳四百万倍的超大质量黑洞。 在银河左侧，我们能辨认出天鹅座（Cygnus）中的明亮恒星——天津四（Deneb）。银河贯穿天鹅座，因此该星座中存在大量星团。
Credit: Likai Lin/IAU OAU

Caption: 2022年国际天文学联合会（IAU）OAE天文摄影比赛静态天体图案类别获奖作品。 这张照片拍摄于2022年4月24日凌晨，捕捉到了中国云南省的天空及其在念湖中的倒影。左侧可见银河，右侧可见泛白的云层。一颗流星沿着银河划过天空，其尾部指向天琴座流星雨辐射点，该辐射点位于照片上方边缘之外。流星的自然色彩非常清晰，令人印象深刻。 一些星座也清晰可见。在左上角，我们可以看到较小的海豚座，其最亮的五颗恒星组成了一个星群。古希腊海豚座比现代海豚座更大，而这个星群在当时只是海豚座的头部。托勒密将古希腊海豚座的南部独立为小马座，因此自罗马时代起，这个星群就代表整个海豚座了。在古代中国，这个星群分别属于瓠瓜和败瓜两个星官，其中瓠瓜星官是古罗马海豚座顶部较亮的恒星组成的菱形，而败瓜星官则由古罗马海豚座尾部的暗星组成。 位于照片顶部、海豚座右侧的亮星是牛郎星，它是天鹰座中最亮的星。在中国古天文学中，牛郎星和一些邻近恒星一起构成了河鼓星官。然而，在中国民间传说中，这颗明亮的恒星象征着深爱着织女的牛郎，而象征着织女的就是织女星，它位于天琴座，在银河这条辽阔天河的另一侧。在这幅图中看不到织女星，但来自天琴座的这颗流星，好似这位不幸的姑娘因无法触碰到自己的爱人而流下的泪滴。 在照片的右上方，天蝎座中闪耀着一颗明亮的红色恒星——大火星。在中国，它和一些邻近恒星一起构成了二十八星宿之一的心宿。在古代中国，它被视为象征着春天的东方苍龙的心脏。 照片中央的天蝎座和人马座包含着银河最明亮的斑块——银河系的中心。而在亮斑的前方，也有着清晰可见的暗云。 天鹰座和天蝎座之间并没有古希腊、古罗马的经典星座，但是在17世纪，两位波兰天文学家——Jan和Elizabeta Hevelius夫妇，为了纪念一位波兰国王，将充满了银河亮斑的这片天区命名为盾牌座。不过，在中国，正处于天市垣之外的这片天区被视为天弁——管理市场的官员。
Credit: Jianfeng Dai/IAU OAE

Caption: The constellation Scorpius (often commonly called Scorpio) along with its bright stars and surrounding constellations. Scorpius is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top) Ophiuchus, Serpens Caput, Libra, Lupus, Norma, Ara, Corona Australis and Sagittarius. Scorpius’s brightest star Antares appears in the heart of the constellation with the famous tail of Scoprius in the south-east (lower left). Scorpius lies on the ecliptic (shown here as a blue line), this is the path the Sun appears to take across the sky over the course of a year. The Sun only spends a short amount of time in late November in Scorpius. The other planets of the Solar System can often be found in Scorpius. Scorpius lies south of the celestial equator. The whole constellation is not visible from the most arctic regions of the world with parts of Scorpius obscured for observers in northern parts of Asia, Europe and North America. Scorpius is most visible in the evenings in the northern hemisphere summer and southern hemisphere winter. The yellow circles mark the positions of the open clusters M6, M7 & NGC 6231 while the yellow circles with plus signs superimposed on them mark the globular clusters M4 and M80. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The circle around Antares indicates that it is a variable star. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. The blue line marks the ecliptic, the path the Sun appears to travel across the sky over the course of one year. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the line marking the ecliptic, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by IAU/Sky & Telescope

Caption: The constellation Sagittarius along with its bright stars and surrounding constellations. Sagittarius is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top) Aquila, Scutum, Serpens Cauda, Ophiuchus, Scorpius, Corona Australis, Telescopium, Microscopium and Capricornus. The brighter stars in Sagittarius form a distinctive teapot shape. Sagittarius lies on the ecliptic (shown here as a blue line), this is the path the Sun appears to take across the sky over the course of a year. The Sun is in Sagittarius from mid December to mid January. The other planets of the Solar System can often be found in Sagittarius. Sagittarius lies south of the celestial equator. The famous teapot asterism is visible for all but the most arctic regions of the world but the most southerly parts of the constellation are not visible in northern parts of Asia, Europe and North America. Sagittarius is most visible in the evenings in the northern hemisphere summer and southern hemisphere winter. The supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* which lies at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy is sits on the western (here right-hand) edge of Sagittarius. Due to it covering an area at the center of our Galaxy, Sagittarius is home to many star clusters including open clusters (marked here with yellow circles) and globular clusters (marked here with yellow circles with + signs superimposed on them). Three nebulae are also marked here with green squares. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the line marking the ecliptic, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by IAU/Sky & Telescope

Caption: The constellation Capricornus (commonly called Capricorn) including its bright stars and surrounding constellations. Capricornus is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top) Aquarius, Aquila, Sagittarius, Microscopium and Piscis Austrinus. Capricornus lies on the ecliptic (shown here as a blue line), this is the path the Sun appears to take across the sky over the course of a year. The Sun is in Capricornus from mid January to mid February. The other planets of the Solar System can often be found in Capricornus. Capricornus lies just south of the celestial equator and is visible to all observers south of the Arctic Circle. Capricornus is most visible in the evenings in the northern hemisphere autumn and southern hemisphere spring. In the south east (lower left on this diagram) of the constellation one can find the globular cluster M30 (shown here as a yellow circle with a plus sign superimposed on it). The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the line marking the ecliptic, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by IAU/Sky & Telescope

Caption: The constellation Ophiuchus along with its bright stars and its surrounding constellations. Ophiuchus is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top): Hercules, Serpens Caput, Scorpius, Sagittarius and Serpens Cauda. Ophiuchus is not part of the traditional twelve zodiac constellations but it lies on the ecliptic (shown here as a blue line), this is the path the Sun appears to take across the sky over the course of a year. The Sun is in Ophiuchus from late November to mid December. The other planets of the Solar System can often be found in Ophiuchus. Ophiuchus spans the celestial equator and thus part of the constellation is visible across the whole of the earth at some point in the year. However during the time it is most visible in the evenings (the southern hemisphere winter and northern hemisphere summer) much of the arctic is in perpetual daylight making the stars in the constellation impossible to see. The whole constellation is visible from equatorial and temperate regions of both hemispheres. As Ophiuchus lies close to the galactic center it contains many globular clusters such as M9, M10, M12, M14, M19, M62, and M107. These are marked as yellow circles with plus symbols superimposed. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the line marking the ecliptic, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by IAU/Sky & Telescope

Caption: The constellation Corona Australis with its brighter stars and surrounding constellations. Corona Australis is surrounded by (going clockwise from the top): Sagittarius, Scorpius, Ara and Telescopium. This constellation has relatively few bright stars. Corona Australis is a southern constellation and thus the whole constellation is visible in the southern hemisphere at some point in the year. The constellation can also be viewed from equatorial and some temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. The constellation is best viewed in the evening in the northern hemisphere summer and southern hemisphere winter. The globular cluster NGC 6541 lies in Corona Australis and is marked here with a yellow circle with a plus sign superimposed on it. The y-axis of this diagram is in degrees of declination with north as up and the x-axis is in hours of right ascension with east to the left. The sizes of the stars marked here relate to the star's apparent magnitude, a measure of its apparent brightness. The larger dots represent brighter stars. The Greek letters mark the brightest stars in the constellation. These are ranked by brightness with the brightest star being labeled alpha, the second brightest beta, etc., although this ordering is not always followed exactly. The dotted boundary lines mark the IAU's boundaries of the constellations and the solid green lines mark one of the common forms used to represent the figures of the constellations. Neither the constellation boundaries, nor the lines joining the stars appear on the sky. The blue line at the top right of the diagram marks the ecliptic.
Credit: Adapted by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education from the original by the IAU and Sky & Telescope