了解宇宙是如何运行的（2010）

How the Universe Works S09E09

Part 2 March 16, 2022, 8:56 a.m.

bright in the ultraviolet
而且有非常独特的特征
and have very unique signatures
与今天的恒星非常不同
that are very different
from stars today,
但正是因为它们太大，太亮
but precisely because they're
so big and so bright,
它们才会非常短暂
they would be very short-lived.
这些第一批恒星消耗得快，死得也早……
These first stars
lived fast and died young...
[爆♥炸♥]
[explosion blasts]
……随着超新星的爆♥炸♥，留下了黑洞
...exploding in supernovas,
leaving behind black holes.
但它们是超大质量黑洞吗？
But were they supermassive
black holes?
当一颗恒星爆♥炸♥时，当它变成超新星时
When a star blows up,
when it goes supernova,
大部分质量被喷射出去
most of the mass
is ejected away.
它会飞出去
It just goes flying out,
留下稠密的中子星或者黑洞
leaving a dense neutron star
or perhaps a black hole.
但它不会有很多质量
But it won't have much
mass, because
因为大部分质量都被吹走了
most of that mass was
blown away.
尽管星族III恒星在早期宇宙中
Even though Population III
stars in the infant universe
非常大
were very large,
但它们在爆♥炸♥时还不足以留下一个
they weren't big enough to
leave a supermassive black hole
超大质量的黑洞
behind when they exploded.
或许，如果我们能跳过超新星这一步
Perhaps if we can skip
the supernova step,
这可能是理解超大质量黑洞
that might be one pathway to
understanding how supermassive
如何形成的一个途径
black holes formed.
一颗垂死的恒星的整个质量
Could a dying star's entire
mass collapse
会坍缩成黑洞吗？
into a black hole?
一条线索可能存在于一个
A clue may lie in a galaxy
nicknamed the Fireworks Galaxy.
昵称为烟花星系的星系
The Fireworks Galaxy has that
有个花哨的名字，是因为当你观察它的时候
flashy name,
because when you look at it,
你会发现，有很多超新星都在爆♥炸♥
there are all these supernova
explosions going off
嗯，这是一场非常好看的光秀
and, um, making quite a show.
最近，天文学家一直在关注
Recently, astronomers
were keeping an eye on
烟花星系中的一颗极其明亮的恒星
one extremely bright star
in the Fireworks Galaxy.
普里特:这颗恒星就是我们所知道的
PLAIT: This star
is exactly the kind
那种会以超新星形式爆♥炸♥的恒星
that we know explodes
as a supernova.
天文学家预计它会爆♥炸♥
Astronomers expected it
to explode,
但后来它做了件奇怪的事情
but then it did something
even weirder.
天文学是如此奇妙，因为有时你会看到
Astronomy is so wonderful,
because sometimes you see things
眼前无法解释的事物
right in front of your eyes
that you can't explain.
我们看到一整颗恒星消失了
We saw an entire star
just disappear.
2007年，这颗恒星是这样的
In 2007, the star
looked like this.
到2015年，它完全消失了
By 2015, it had
completely vanished.
没有超新星爆♥炸♥
There was no flare
没有耀斑或碎片
or debris
from a supernova explosion.
这到底是怎么回事？
So what the heck is going on?
普莱特:事实证明，并不是每一颗大质量恒星
PLAIT: It turns out that not
every massive star blows up
都会像普通超新星那样爆♥炸♥
with all the fireworks
of a normal supernova.
你可以得到所谓的失败超新星
You can get what's called
a failed supernova.
当一颗坍缩的恒星内部
A supernova fails
when the shockwave
产生的冲击波无法逃逸时，超新星就会失败
generated inside a collapsing
star can't escape.
泰勒:在某些情况下，当恒星质量
THALLER: In some cases,
when the star is very massive,
非常大的时候，当恒星直接坍缩成黑洞时
the shockwave never has a chance
to get all the way out of
冲击波永远不会有机会
the star by the time
the star itself
完全离开恒星
collapses into a black hole,
于是就会出现失败的超新星
then you have
a failed supernova.
烟花星系的这颗恒星可能有足够大的质量
The Fireworks Galaxy star
may have been massive enough to
在坍缩形成黑洞之前
smother its own explosion
before collapsing
可以抑制自己的爆♥炸♥
to form a black hole.
泰勒:所有东西都会坍缩进黑洞
THALLER: Everything collapses
into the black hole.
就会有一个
You can actually
have a black hole
与原恒星质量相同的黑洞
with all the mass of
the original star.
在宇宙早期
Back in the early universe,
巨大的星族III恒星会不会
could the enormous
Population III stars have died
以失败的超新星形式死亡
as failed supernovas,
然后留下超大质量的黑洞？
leaving behind supermassive
black holes?
在我看来，这些星族III的恒星
These Population III stars
don't seem to me to be
并不是超大质量黑洞前身的
a good contender for
the precursor to supermassive
有力竞争者——它们没有足够的质量
black holes -- they just
would not have enough mass.
菲利平科:即使是质量最大的恒星
FILIPPENKO: Even
the most massive stars are only
也只有太阳质量的几百倍
a couple of hundred times
more massive than our sun,
而超大质量黑洞的质量是太阳质量的
whereas a supermassive black
hole is millions or billions of
数百万或数十亿倍
times the mass of our sun.
早期超大质量黑洞
Early supermassive black holes
不可能是由坍缩的恒星形成的
can't have formed
from collapsing stars.
即使是巨恒星也不够大
Even giant stars aren't
massive enough.
那么是否有其他途径可以形成超大质量黑洞呢？
So is there some other path to
being supermassive?
恒星黑洞
Were stellar black holes
是宇宙“健美运动员”的快速增重项目吗？
cosmic bodybuilders on
a fast-track bulking program?
早期宇宙中的超大质量黑洞
How did
supermassive black holes in
是如何迅速变大的？
the early universe get
so large so quickly?
我们排除了它们是由
We ruled out the idea
that they were
非常大的恒星坍缩而产生的想法
created from the collapse of
very large stars.
也许它们一开始是更小的
Maybe they started out
as smaller,
恒星质量的黑洞，然后通过吞食
stellar mass black holes
and grew to be supermassive
变成超大质量的黑洞
by eating.
特伦布莱:黑洞不是挑食的动物
TREMBLAY: Black holes
are not fussy eaters.
它们会吃掉路上的任何东西
They'll consume anything that
comes in their path.
你懂的，气体、行星、恒星
You know, gas, planets, stars.
这无关紧要，他们所吃掉的一切
It doesn't matter,
and everything that they
都会增加黑洞的质量
consume adds mass
to the black hole.
我们在银河系发现了一个
We've spotted
a stellar mass black hole
恒星质量的黑洞，它正在进食中
currently eating
in our Milky Way Galaxy.
天鹅座X-1的质量是太阳的15倍
15 times the mass of the sun,
它正在稳定地吸收
Cygnus X-1 is steadily feeding
围绕它旋转的物质
off the material
that swirls around it.
明加雷利:一些黑洞是通过所谓的吸积盘
MINGARELLI: Some black holes are
fed through things called
吞噬物质的
accretion disks.
它有点像土星周围的光环