了解宇宙是如何运行的（2010）

How the Universe Works S09E01

Part 8 March 16, 2022, 8:54 a.m.

普莱特:恒星靠近黑洞的一侧
PLAIT: The side of the star
closer to the black hole
比恒星的另一侧
is feeling a much, much stronger
感受到的黑洞引力
gravitational pull toward
the black hole than
要大得多，因为那一侧离黑洞更远
the far side of the star,
because it's farther away.
于是就会把恒星拉伸
And what this does is
it stretches the star.
萨特:所以它被撕成了碎片
SUTTER: So it got ripped
to shreds, it got shredded.
它被拉进去，拉伸
It got pulled out and stretched
并在黑洞周围抽打
and whipped
around the black hole.
这将恒星拉伸成一个巨大的长臂
And this stretches the star
into some giant long arm,
并被困在旋转的黑洞周围
and that swirls around and is
trapped as it orbits
不断绕行
the black hole.
吸积盘捕获了破碎的恒星
The accretion disk
snares the shredded star.
奥卢塞伊:这意味着吸积盘
OLUSEYI: And what this means is
that that accretion disk is
会增加辐射的输出
gonna increase its output of
radiation, in particular,
特别是高能辐射
high-energy radiation.
当恒星嵌入吸积盘时
As the star embeds in
the accretion disk,
一场大规模的辐射耀斑爆发
a massive flare
of radiation erupts,
照亮了整个宇宙
lighting up the universe.
在最初的爆♥炸♥之后
After this initial burst,
旋转的恒星碎片
the spinning star debris
sends out
发出一束连续的光
a continuous stream of light.
我们的望远镜只能在圆盘每次旋转到这个点时
Our telescopes only
pick up this radiation
接收到这种辐射
on each rotation of the disk.
这就像每130秒就能看到灯塔发出的光束
It's like seeing the beam from
a lighthouse every 130 seconds.
这些闪光是一颗濒死恒星的最后脉冲
The flashes are the final
pulses of a dying star,
这些闪光揭示了
and those flashes
reveal both the width
超大质量黑洞的宽度和旋转速度
and the rotation speed of
the supermassive black hole.
我们了解到，中心的超大质量黑洞
We learned that
the central massive black hole
大约比地球宽300倍
is about 300 times wider
than the Earth,
但它每两分钟旋转一次
but it's rotating
every two minutes.
它以光速的一半旋转
It's rotating at half
the speed of light.
超过3亿英里（约4.8亿公里）每小时
That's over 300 million
miles an hour.
我们还不知道M87星的旋转速度
We don't yet know how fast
M87 star is spinning,
但我们知道吸积盘使它以每小时
but we do know the accretion
disk rotates it over
200万英里（约322万公里）的速度旋转
two million miles an hour.
这个发光的光环，宽数百光年
This glowing ring,
hundreds of light-years wide,
现在就在我们飞船的正前方
now lies directly ahead
of our ship.
它是宇宙中最令人敬畏
It is one of
the most awe-inspiring
最致命的地方之一
and deadly places
in the universe,
而我们正朝着它直奔而去
and we are heading
straight for it.
在我们穿越星系的长途跋涉之后
After our long trek
across the galaxy,
我们终于在星系中心
we finally face the mighty
看到了巨大的超大质量黑洞……M87星
supermassive black hole
at its center... M87 star.
我们面前有一道炫目的强光
A dazzling glare confronts us.
这是吸积盘，一个由热气体和尘埃组成的环
This is the accretion disk,
a ring of hot gas and dust
以每小时200万英里（约322万公里）的速度旋转
spinning at over
two million miles an hour.
M87星的吸积盘非常明亮
M87 star's accretion disk
事件地平线望远镜
is so bright,
the Event Horizon Telescope
在5500万光年外的地球上拍摄到了它
photographed it from Earth
55 million light-years away.
所以我清楚地记得
So I remember
exactly where I was
那张照片发布时我在哪里……我和我的一群同事
when that image was released...
I was sitting with a bunch of
坐在天体物理中心
my colleagues at
the Center for Astrophysics,
我们都在现场观看新闻发布会
and we were all watching
the press conference live and
当那张照片出现在屏幕上时，我们都目瞪口呆
just absolutely slack-jawed
when that image hit the screen.
奥卢西伊:我在机场看到
OLUSEYI:
I was sitting in the airport
这张黑洞照片时
when I saw
this black hole image,
正准备坐飞机去纽约
about to take
a flight to New York.
我太激动了，以至于
I got so excited that I actually
我走了过去，不管还坐在座位的背包了
walked away from
my backpack sitting there.
特马克:看到这张照片
TEGMARK: Seeing that picture,
我真的没有怀疑的余地
it really doesn't leave room
for doubt.
黑洞是真实存在的
Black holes are real.
视界望远镜拍摄的这张照片
The Event Horizon
Telescope photo is
是有史以来拍摄的第一张黑洞照片
the first picture ever taken
of a black hole.
这张照片显示M87星
The image revealed M87 star
是顺时针旋转的
spins in a clockwise direction,
它有236亿英里（约380亿公里）宽
and it's 23.6 billion
miles wide.
大约可能让300万个地球排成一排
That's around three million
Earths lined up in a row.
这张照片也证实了这个M87星
The photo also confirmed
M87 star's
是一个非常高级俱乐部的会员……
membership in a very
exclusive club...
只有1%的超大质量黑洞在积极进食
The 1% of supermassive black
holes that actively feed.
来自视界望远镜的图像
The image from the Event
Horizon Telescope
告诉我们M87星
tells us that M87 is indeed
确实在积极地生长、聚集和吞噬
actively growing and accreting
and eating material
周围的物质……它显示了气体在黑洞周围旋转
around it... it shows gas
swirling around that black hole
然后被黑洞吞噬进去
on its way to being swallowed.
但是是否所有超大质量黑洞
But do all supermassive
black holes consume material
都在与M87星♥相♥同的方式消耗物质呢？
in the same way that
M87 star does?
有没有可能不同的黑洞
Is it possible
that different black holes
有不同的餐桌礼仪？
have different table manners?
事实证明的确是这样
Well, it turns out
that's really true.
有些是更精致的食客
Some are more delicate eaters.
2018年，我们发现了一个距离地球2.5亿光年的
In 2018, we discovered
a supermassive black hole
超大质量黑洞，它正在按计划吞噬着“食物”
250 million light-years from
Earth that eats on a schedule.
现在有这样一个黑洞
Now we have
this case of a black hole
它看起来似乎一天吃三次
that looks like it's
feeding three times a day.
没错，就是一日三餐
It's having
three square meals a day.
GSN 069星系释放出
Intense bursts
of energy pulse out
强烈的能量脉冲
from galaxy GSN 069.
我们看到X射线耀斑和爆发
We see X-ray flares and bursts
从这个星系的中心发出
coming from the center
of this galaxy,
每9小时重复一次，每一次爆发都与一个
repeating every nine hours,
and each burst is associated
新的进食事件有关
with a new feeding event.
这个超大质量的黑洞
This supermassive
black hole not only
不仅按时进食
eats on a schedule,