Scientists last week released the first image showing the violent events surrounding a black hole. This image is one of just a few that have been taken of black holes. It included the point from which the black hole shoots out high-energy particles into space.
科学家们上周发布了第一张显示黑洞激烈暴力事件的照片。这是黑洞拍下的为数不多的照片之一。它包括黑洞向太空发射高能粒子的光点。
The new image was captured using 16 telescopes around the world that, in effect, created a planet-sized observational dish.
这张新照片是用世界各地的16台望远镜拍下的，实际上，这些望远镜形成了一个行星大小的观测盘。
The supermassive black hole pictured is found at the center of a relatively nearby galaxy called Messier 87, or M87, about 54 million light-years from Earth. This black hole has a mass 6.5 billion times larger than our sun.
照片中的超大质量黑洞位于距离地球约5400万光年的相对较近的M87星系的中心位置。这个黑洞的质量是地球的65亿倍。
It was the subject of the first image of a black hole ever taken. That image was released in 2019. Another image of a black hole was taken last year.
它是有史以来第一张黑洞图像的拍摄对象。那张照片发布于2019年。另一张黑洞的照片是去年拍摄的。
But those images showed just the darkness of the black hole and surrounding bright material falling into it. They were taken from observations using several radio telescopes worldwide.
但是这些照片显示的只是黑洞的黑暗，以及周围坠入其中的明亮物质。这些照片是通过世界各地多台射电望远镜的观测拍下的。
The latest image shows light at a longer wavelength, which expands what can be seen.
最新的照片显示了更长波长的光线，这扩大了可视范围。
Black holes are hard to observe due to their nature. They are events found in space with a gravitational pull so strong that no matter or light can escape once caught too close.
由于黑洞的性质，很难观测到它们。它们是在太空中发现的具有强大引力的事件，一旦距离过近被抓住，任何物质或光都无法逃脱。
Most galaxies are built around supermassive black holes. Some not only take in any surrounding material, but also send out bright jets of high-energy particles far into space – beyond the galaxy from which they are from.
大多数星系都是围绕超大质量黑洞建造的。有些黑洞不仅吸收周围的任何物质，还将高能粒子的明亮喷流发射到遥远的太空中，超出了它们的星系之外。
The new image shows how the base of such a jet connects with material around the black hole. It shows the base of the jet of hot plasma, the light around the darkness of a black hole from hot plasma falling into it, and the central dark area.
这张新照片显示了这种喷流的底部是如何与黑洞周围的物质连接的。它显示了热等离子体喷流的底部、热等离子体所坠入的黑洞阴影周围的光线，以及中心暗区。
Plasma is the fourth state of matter after solids, liquids, and gases. It is material so hot that some or all of its atoms are split into high-energy subatomic particles.
等离子体是继固体、液体和气体之后的第四种物质状态。它是一种非常炽热的材料，以至于它的部分或全部原子都分裂成高能亚原子粒子。
Scientist Ru-Sen Lu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai is the lead writer of the study, which was published in Nature. He said the image shows for the first time the connection between the material pulled inward near the central supermassive black hole and the point from which the jet starts.
上海中国科学院的科学家路如森是这项发表在《自然》杂志上的研究的主要作者。他说，这张照片首次显示了在中心的超大质量黑洞附近的吸积流与喷流起源之间的联系。
Seeing the whole area near a supermassive black hole can be helpful to scientists.
观测超大质量黑洞附近的整个区域对科学家会有帮助。
Thomas Krichbaum of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Germany is a co-writer of the study. He said, "This helps to better understand the complicated physics around black holes, how jets are launched and accelerated and how matter inflow into the black hole and matter outflow are related."
德国马克斯·普朗克射电天文研究所的托马斯·克里希鲍姆是这项研究的合著者。他说：“这有助于我们更好地理解黑洞周围复杂的物理现象，喷流是如何发射和加速的，以及坠入黑洞的物质和喷出物质是如何相关的。”
Kazunori Akiyama of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Haystack Observation also co-wrote the study. He said this is what scientists "have been wanting to see for more than half a century." He added that this is the beginning of an "exciting" new time.
麻省理工学院干草堆天文台的秋山一典也是这项研究的合著者。他表示，这正是科学家们“半个多世纪以来一直希望看到的。”他还表示，这是一个激动人心的新时代的开始。
Lu, Krichbaum, and Akiyama are members of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project. The international working group formed in 2012 with the goal of directly observing a black hole's surrounding environment.
路如森、托马斯·克里希鲍姆、秋山一典都是事件视界望远镜项目的成员。该国际工作组成立于2012年，其目标是直接观测黑洞周围的环境。
I'm Gregory Stachel.
我是格雷戈里·斯塔切尔。
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