宇宙（2007）

The Universe S02E02

Part 4 April 23, 2021, 10:04 a.m.

They're entirely theoretical objects.
But then black holeswere that way once upon a time.
白洞有可能也没有可能存在于宇宙的开端
White holes might or might not haveexisted at the beginning of the universe
但是有一个情况是确定无疑的黑洞已不再是科学幻想了
but one thing's certain: black holesare no longer science fiction.
它们是科学事实
They're science fact.
科学家们承认那些快速旋转的旋涡云
是诞生于濒临死亡的巨大恒星
Scientists agree thesewhirling vortexes are born
out of the death throesof massive stars.
在足够大的恒星耗尽其燃料时
已经无法支撑其自身来对抗它的引力作用
When a sufficiently massive starruns out of fuel
it is unable to support itself
它就向内塌落形成黑洞
against its own gravitational pull.
It then collapses inwardto form a black hole.
黑洞在宇宙演化中是个麻烦制♥造♥者
Black holes are troublemakersin the evolution of the universe.
它们把物质吸进去把物质抛出去
They can draw matter in, spew it out
重组改造宇宙的各个地区
也许是银河的某个部分
reform, reorganizeregions of the universe,
霸占着中♥央♥ 操纵着...
perhaps part of a galaxy,
它们是些强劲的大家伙乱七八糟的东西围绕这它们运行一刻都停不下来
take up residence at the centerstart running the show...
They're big muscular things thatlumber around and cannot be stopped.
黑洞难以察觉因为他们很暗
Black holes are difficult to detectbecause they're black
但是当它们与太空中的其它物体互动时就可以观察到
but they can be observed when theyinteract with something in space,
比如在塌落的气体里
气体会被加热而发出X射线
such as in falling gas
which heats up and glows in X-rays.
好多年前黑洞被认为不可能的
物理学中有个叫'可笑因子'(the giggle factor)的东西
Years ago black holeswere considered to be impossible.
每当人们谈论起黑洞大家都感到非常可笑
We have something called"the giggle factor" in physics.
然而现在我们已经看到了数百
People used to giggle wheneverwe talked about black holes.
数千个黑洞的光彩现象
But now we see hundreds,
thousands of gloriousphotographs of black holes.
至少存在两类黑洞
一类叫做'恒星质量的黑洞'
There are at leasttwo types of black holes.
大约是太阳质量的3到30倍
One is calleda "stellar mass black hole",
which is approximately 3 to 30times the mass of our Sun.
据推测有1亿个这样的黑洞
存在于我们的银河系里
It's speculated that 100 million of these
其它行系里也有这同样的数量
reside in our Milky Way galaxy
and similar numbersin other galaxies.
另一个叫做'超大质量黑洞'
是我们太阳质量的几百万到几十亿倍
The other is a "supermassive black hole",
that is millions to billions of timesthe mass of our Sun.
我们认为这个庞大的怪物
存在于大多数非常庞大的行系的中心
It's believed that this humongous monster
lives at the center ofmost every large galaxy.
我们的银河系里就有一个
Our own Milky Way galaxy has one.
然而无论它们是恒星质量规模还是超级庞大
所有的黑洞都是宇宙间的吃人者
Yet whether they're stellar mass sizeor super massive,
all black holes are cosmic cannibals.
黑洞某些方面象宇宙捕蟑盒
有东西进去却没东西出来
A black hole in some senseis like a cosmic roach motel.
Everything checks inbut nothing checks out.
访问黑洞是荒诞的
几乎是痴人说梦
A trip to a black holewould be fantastic,
就象是找死
almost psychedelic.
如果你离黑洞很近
It's like havinga near-death experience.
吸引力就将你的身体撕开
As you get even closerto the black hole
那么你的头部你的屁♥股♥
tidal forces beginto stretch your body apart
体验到了不同的引力
so that the top of your bodyand the bottom of your body
你就成了意大利面条了
experience different gravitational forces,
最终甚至你身体中的原子都变成了面条四分五裂
and you become "spaghettified".Eventually even the atoms
of your body become noodlesand become ripped apart.
至于超大质量黑洞
意大利面条的加工过程稍微有点不同
In the case of a supermassiveblack hole
人跳进去不会马上变成面条
the process of spaghettificationis somewhat different.
一直要到通过了黑洞的边界
The person jumping inwouldn't be spaghettified
原因是拉伸人体的潮汐力量
until passing through the event horizon
and the reason for that isbecause the tidal forces
还不够强大一直要到离奇点很近才行
that would stretch him
aren't strong enough until youget closer to the singularity.
因此人跳进去会有片刻的感觉
他们在黑洞里面会感到惊奇
So the person jumping in would havea few moments of perception
随后猛然跌进奇点变成了面条
that they were inside of a black holeand they could marvel at that idea,
before they plunged
toward the singularity andthen became spaghettified.
如果一个黑洞还不够残暴的话
那么就来试一下两个黑洞为了支配地位的决斗吧
And if one black holeisn't violent enough
try two black holesdueling for dominance.
在浩瀚的太空中
黑洞偶尔也会成双成对
In the vastness of space
在我看来仿佛它们在相互表现魅力
black holes occasionally pair off.
有点象宇宙间的求爱
I may appear as though they're engaging
但是这些结合根本就不和谐
in some sort of cosmic courtship
一旦两个黑洞靠得很近
but these unionsare anything but harmonious.
它们就会被相互间的引力套牢
When two black holes get too close
这两个相互围绕这运转的黑洞就象快速旋转的托钵僧
they become trappedby each other's gravity.
这些结对的黑洞
The two orbit around each otherlike whirling dervishes.
最终将碰撞合并在一起
These binary black holes
人们认为黑洞之间的碰撞十分普遍
will eventually collide and coalesce.
它们会相互围绕着运转然后向内旋转
It's believed that collisions betweenblack holes would be quite common.
在某些时候它们会合并起来
They would be in orbit around each otherand then spiral inwards
而合并会造成时空中巨大的混乱
and at some point they would coalesce
and that coalescencecreates a huge disturbance
如果有两个扭曲四周大量空间的物体
in space-time.
它们合并在一起
If you have two objects that arebending space a lot around them
那么就会泛起涟漪波纹将释放出所携带的能量
and they merge together
then you'll get this ripple,this wave going out
carrying energy with it.
具有代表性的是当黑洞碰撞时
会产生狂野的震动叫做'引力波'
Typically, when black holes collide
它会跨越时空进行传播
they create wild vibrationscalled "gravitational waves"
which spread across the fabricof space and time.
这些涟漪就象你在池塘水面上看到涟漪
如果你向池塘里扔块卵石就会产生一个干扰
These ripples will be just like the ripplesyou would have say on the surface of a pond.
接着你就会看到涟漪泛起...
If you threw a pebble into a pondit creates a disturbance
干扰到池塘的远处各点
and then you see the ripples carrying...
过去结对的黑洞的碰撞很难被察觉
that disturbance away tofar points of the pond.
现在科学家们开♥发♥了引力波探测器
In the past binary black hole collisionswere impossible to identify.
来追踪这些震动
Now scientists have developedgravitational wave detectors
可望捕捉到黑洞的碰撞
to track these vibrations
and hopefully catch blackhole collisions in the act.
LIGO(激光干涉引力波天文台)是地面天文台
眼下正在进行引力波的搜索
包括比我们的太阳质量大几倍的恒星规模的
LIGO is a ground-based observatory
that's currently searchingfor gravity waves
黑洞碰撞所产生的引力
produced from collisions involvingstellar-sized black holes
这个系统利用激光
来测量靠金属线吊着的镜子的移♥动♥
a few times the mass of our Sun.
The system uses lasers
to measure the motions of mirrors
当两个黑洞合并时
that hang by wires fromoverhead supports.
它们将释放出引力波
就会在太空中产生涟漪
When two black holes merge together
当涟漪经过这些了不起的玩艺儿时
they'll release thesegravitational waves,
these ripples in the shape of space.
就会非常细微地改变这些探测器之间的距离
And as the ripples pass by
these giant contraptionsthey alter ever so slightly
探测器实际上就能
监测到距离的变化
the distances between these detectors
and the detectors can actually...
那就是引力波前来报到了
monitor and see that change in distance
未来的LISA
and that's the signature of agravitational wave coming by.
由美国宇航局和欧洲航♥天♥局合作
将能够发现超大质量黑洞碰撞造成的引力波
In the future LISA,
a joint NASA and EuropeanSpace Agency mission,
will be able to detectwaves from collisions
这些两个星系合并所产生的影响
involving supermassive black holes.
它们那超大质量黑洞就会淹没在
These impacts occurafter two galaxies have merged
新形成的星系中♥央♥ 并且找到对方
and their supermassiveblack holes sink to the center
of the newly formed galaxyand find each other.
如果两个超大质量黑洞碰撞还不够混乱的话
那么就来看看三个
And if collisions involving twosupermassive black holes
2007年1月美国和欧洲的卫星
isn't chaotic enough,
try three.
居然观察到了三个
In January 2007U.S. and European Satellites
它们在100亿光年外的室女座
actually observed black hole triplets
Ten billions light-years awayin the Virgo constellation.
它们实际上三个类星体
认为是由位于星系中心的超大质量黑洞提供动力的
They're actually three Quasarswhich are luminous objects
thought to be poweredby supermassive black holes
这三个互相靠近
located in the centers of galaxies.
它们之间只有10万到15万光年的距离
This trio is in close proximityto one another.
相当于我们银河系的宽度
They're only about 100,000to 150,000 light-years apart
十有八♥九♥ 这三个最终将进行恶意兼并
which is about the widthof our Milky Way.
In all probability the threewill eventually engage
如果你将这三个大黑洞放到靠得很近
in a hostile merger.
因为两个大的旋转即椭圆星系
If you take three large black holes
已经撞在一起了那么真是一场混战了
brought close together becausetwo big spiral or elliptical galaxies
它们中的两个将胜出而第三个将出局
have slammed togetherthen it's a real free-for-all.
And two of them could win the gameand throw the third one out.
三个物体相互之间的引力
会导致将其中的一个超大质量黑洞
喷射出系统
Gravitational interactionsbetween three bodies
然后你就只留下了两个超大质量黑洞