美國國家航空航天局向我們展示了一個超大質(zhì)量的黑洞

美國國家航空航天局向我們展示了一個超大質(zhì)量的黑洞

Do you remember what you were doing the day NASA revealed the first-ever image of a black hole?

你還記得美國國家航空航天局(NASA)公布第一張黑洞圖像的那天你在做什么嗎?

The black hole's extreme gravity alters the paths of light coming from different parts of the disk, producing the warped image. (Photo: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Jeremy Schnittman)

Probably what you're doing right now: Staring at a screen and wondering what all the fuss is about.

也許你現(xiàn)在正在做的是:盯著屏幕，不知道這到底是怎么回事。

Sure, the ingenuity and technical prowess needed to image M87* — a supermassive black hole more than 55 million light-years away — was extraordinary.

當然，拍攝M87*——一個5500萬光年外的超大質(zhì)量黑洞——所需要的獨創(chuàng)性和技術(shù)力量是非同尋常的。

The first-ever image of the event horizon surrounding a distant black hole. (Photo: National Science Foundation)

But the picture itself? Let's be honest, that black hole wasn't about to suck the breath right out of our bodies. It might as well have been rendered by the first Nintendo Entertainment System.

但是照片本身呢?說實話，那個黑洞不會直接把我們的呼吸吸出去。它很可能是由第一個任天堂娛樂系統(tǒng)渲染的。

Of course, technology will evolve and help us take much higher resolution photographs of what has for so long seemed un-photographable. In fact, the Event Horizon Telescope — instrumental in capturing M87* — is just getting started on its black hole photo album.

當然，技術(shù)會不斷發(fā)展，幫助我們拍出高分辨率的照片，而長期以來，這些照片似乎是不可拍照的。事實上，用于捕捉M87*的視界望遠鏡才剛剛開始拍攝它的黑洞相冊。

In the meantime, NASA has unveiled a simulation that's equal parts breath-catcher ... and mind-bender.

與此同時，美國國家航空航天局公布了一種模擬裝置，它的各個部分都是吸氣器和思想盛宴。

The top image is what an active supermassive black hole could look like when technology and imaging techniques take another bold leap forward and serve up the farthest reaches of the universe in brilliant high-resolution.

上圖是一個活躍的超大質(zhì)量黑洞的樣子，當技術(shù)和成像技術(shù)又一次大膽的飛躍，以極高的分辨率服務于宇宙最遠的地方。

It's also what happens when we give gravity a paintbrush. See how the light swirls around the event horizon like a psychedelic Saturnian ring? That's the photon ring, where light can travel endlessly round and round the black hole's mouth.

這也是當我們給重力一個畫筆時所發(fā)生的?？吹焦馊绾蜗褚粋€迷幻的土星環(huán)一樣繞著視界旋轉(zhuǎn)了嗎?這就是光子環(huán)，在這里光可以無休止地繞著黑洞的嘴運動。

Then there's the broader splash of light surrounding the chasm. It originates from an area behind the black hole known as its accretion disc, but our perspective here is from the edge of the disk.

此外，裂縫周圍還有更大范圍的亮光。它起源于黑洞后面被稱為吸積盤的區(qū)域，但我們在這里的視角是從吸積盤的邊緣。

This image highlights and explains various aspects of the black hole visualization. (Photo: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Jeremy Schnittman)

Note how the left side is brighter than the right? Again, that's a matter of perspective. The black hole is moving toward us, giving the light on one side a boost, while diminishing it on the other side. That phenomenon is known as relativistic beaming, or the Doppler effect.

注意左邊比右邊亮多少?這又是一個視角問題。黑洞正在向我們移動，一邊給光一個推力，而另一邊使光減弱。這種現(xiàn)象被稱為相對論光束，或多普勒效應。

And everything we see is stretched and warped under gravity's inescapable heel.

我們所看到的一切都在重力不可避免的腳后跟下被拉伸和扭曲。

"Simulations and movies like these really help us visualize what Einstein meant when he said that gravity warps the fabric of space and time," notes Jeremy Schnittman, the NASA scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center who created the simulation. "Until very recently, these visualizations were limited to our imagination and computer programs. I never thought that it would be possible to see a real black hole."

戈達德航天飛行中心NASA科學家杰里米·施尼特曼(Jeremy Schnittman)指出:“像這樣的模擬和電影真的能幫助我們形象地理解愛因斯坦所說的重力扭曲時空結(jié)構(gòu)的意思。”“直到最近，這些可視化還僅限于我們的想象力和計算機程序。我從來沒有想過有可能看到一個真正的黑洞。”

It all adds up to a mesmerizing portrait of a black hole — even if it can be a little technically exhausting.

所有這一切構(gòu)成了一幅迷人的黑洞畫像——即使它在技術(shù)上有點累人。

But worry not. As part of NASA's Black Hole Week, the agency also got refreshingly un-technical with a safety video for kids. With tongue firmly planted in cheek, the narrator cheerfully explains why a black hole is "absolutely not a good place to vacation."

但不用擔心。作為NASA黑洞周的一部分，該機構(gòu)還為孩子們制作了一段安全視頻，讓人耳目一新。敘述者把舌頭牢牢地貼在臉頰上，愉快地解釋為什么黑洞“絕對不是一個度假的好地方”。

For one thing, there's a good chance you won't be able to send postcards.

首先，你很有可能無法寄明信片。

"And if you get close enough," the narrator continues, "You now have to worry about being stretched into a giant noodle and time getting really weird."

“如果你離得足夠近，”敘述者繼續(xù)說，“你現(xiàn)在就得擔心被拉長成一根巨大的面條，時間會變得非常奇怪。”

Then again, if you've got your fill of astrophysics for the day, the video itself may be the perfect vacation.

如果你對今天的天體物理學已經(jīng)有了足夠的了解，那么這個視頻本身就是一個完美的假期。