宇宙（2021）

空间之河以超光速流动。
The river of space flows at and then faster than the speed of light.
光本身的移♥动♥速度不足以逃逸。
Light itself can't move fast enough to escape.
这就是射手座A*。
And that's what Sagittarius A* is.
它是宇宙结构中的瀑布。
It's a waterfall in the fabric of the universe.
从黑洞形成的那一刻起，
From the moment the black hole formed,
射手座A*的种子有着一颗纯粹的黑暗之心。
the seed of Sagittarius A* had a heart of pure darkness.
内部永远隐藏在视线之外。
The interior forever hidden from view.
通过空间边界与宇宙的其他部分隔离。
Shielded from the rest of the universe by a boundary in space.
事件视界。
The event horizon.
不归路的终极点。
The ultimate point of no return.
当我们接近事件视界时，
As we approach the event horizon,
我们第一次看到了黑洞真正的怪异之处。
we get our first glimpse of the true weirdness of black holes.
爱因斯坦告诉我们，空间和时间并不是它们看起来的那样。
Einstein taught us that space and time are not what they seem.
它们融合在一起成为一种织物——
They are merged together into a kind of a fabric -
- 宇宙的结构。 它被称为时空。
- the fabric of the universe. It's called space time.
爱因斯坦还告诉我们，巨大物体的存在——
And Einstein also taught us that the presence of massive objects -
恒星、行星和星系——弯曲和扭曲
stars and planets and galaxies - curved and distorts
宇宙的结构。
the fabric of the universe.
这就是我们感觉到的重力。
And that's what we feel as the force of gravity.
但这种扭曲不仅在空间上，也在时间上。
But that distortion is not only in space, it's also in time.
当你越来越靠近一个巨大的物体时，
As you go closer and closer to a massive object,
时间流逝的速度变慢了。
the rate that time passes slows down.
所以如果我看向一个黑洞，
So if I look towards a black hole,
我看到时间过得越来越慢
I see time passing slower and slower and slower
直到，在事件视界，
until, on the event horizon,
时间停止。
time stops.
射手座A*出生于瀑布
Sagittarius A* was born a waterfall
在宇宙的结构中……
in the fabric of the universe...
..空间比光速流动的地方
..where space flows faster than light
时间停止了。
and time grinds to a halt.
但我们的黑洞还只是个婴儿……
But our black hole was still just a baby...
..与周围的星星♥相♥形见绌。
..dwarfed by the stars around it.
它完全不像它会变成的怪物。
It was nothing like the monster it would become.
今天射手座A*
Sagittarius A* today
是太阳质量的四百万倍。
is four million times the mass of the Sun.
从未有过如此巨大的恒星。
There has never been a star that massive.
所以它一定是由小得多的东西坍塌形成的
So it must have formed by the collapse of something much smaller
然后它必须在银河系的整个生命周期中成长
and then it must have grown over the lifetime of the Milky Way
通过吃东西。
by eating stuff.
不幸的是，周围有很多东西可供它吃。
Unfortunately, there has been a lot of stuff around for it to eat.
年轻黑洞无情的引力
The young black hole's inexorable gravitational pull
意味着任何离得太近的东西都无法逃脱。
meant there was no escape for anything that strayed too close.
射手座A*开始长大……
Sagittarius A* began to grow...
..拉近附近的星星...
..pulling on nearby stars...
..在将它们撕成碎片并享用热等离子体之前。
..before ripping them to shreds and feasting on the hot plasma.
黑洞质量越来越大……
The black hole gaining more mass...
..和更多的引力。
..and more gravitational power.
但我们认为附近的星星不够多
But we don't think there were enough stars nearby
让黑洞变得超大质量
for the black hole to grow supermassive
仅靠明星饮食。
on a diet of stars alone.
相反，它对更大的猎物产生了兴趣。
Instead, it developed a taste for more massive prey.
当另一个黑洞靠近人马座A*时，
When another black hole passed close to Sagittarius A*,
他们被锁在了引力的怀抱中……
they became locked in a gravitational embrace...
..相互盘旋，接近光速的一半。
..spiralling towards each other, approaching half the speed of light.
碰撞前。
Before colliding.
射手座 A* 吞噬了它的表亲......
Sagittarius A* cannibalised its cousin...
..在宇宙本身的结构中制♥造♥涟漪。
..creating ripples in the fabric of the universe itself.
更多的饭菜随之而来。
More meals were to follow.
黑洞、恒星、气体云——
Black holes, stars, gas clouds -
任何冒险进入它的巢穴太深的东西。
whatever ventured too deep into its lair.
随着我们黑洞的力量和影响力的增长......
And as our black hole's power and influence grew...
..它的周围也在发生变化。
..its surroundings were changing, too.
在银河系核心周围，
Around the galactic core,
数千亿颗恒星在轨道上……
hundreds of billions of stars were in orbit...
..围绕着他们共同的质心慢慢旋转......
..slowly spinning around their common centre of mass...
..进化成熟悉的螺旋盘......
..evolving into the familiar spiralling disc...
..雄伟的银河系...
..the majestic Milky Way...
..以人马座 A* 为核心。
..with Sagittarius A* at its core.
人马座 A* 变成了我们现在所说的超大质量黑洞，
Sagittarius A* became what we now call a supermassive black hole,
数万甚至数十万倍的质量
many tens or even hundreds of thousands of times more massive
胜过宇宙中的任何一颗星星。
than any star in the universe.
而射手座 A* 并不是独一无二的。
And Sagittarius A* is not unique.
我们现在认为几乎每个大星系
We now think that virtually every large galaxy
它的中心有一个超大质量黑洞。
has a supermassive black hole at its heart.
钱德拉已经超越了银河系
Chandra has looked beyond the Milky Way
并观察到无数潜伏在心脏中的超大质量黑洞
and observed countless supermassive black holes lurking at the hearts
散布在宇宙中的无数星系。
of the myriad galaxies that litter the cosmos.
这些怪物并不是自然界中晦涩难懂的怪癖。
These monsters aren't obscure quirks of nature.
它们是它的基本特征。
They are fundamental features of it.
远不是小玩家，
And far from being bit players,
我们开始意识到黑洞
we're starting to realise that black holes
有能力和范围来雕刻他们周围的星系。
have the power and reach to sculpt the galaxies around them.
我们年轻星系的中心富含气体和尘埃。
The centre of our young galaxy was rich in gas and dust.
更多的祭品供您享用。
More offerings to feast on.
这是一个贪吃的时期
This was a gluttons period
这标志着银河系超大质量黑洞的新纪♥元♥。
that marks a new era for the Milky Way's supermassive black hole.
当无形的怪物成为银河系的雕塑家。
When the invisible monster became sculptor of the galaxy.
创造与毁灭在宇宙中往往是相辅相成的
Creation and destruction often go hand-in-hand in the universe
黑洞也不例外。
and black holes are no exception.
射手座A*当然不仅仅是破坏者
Sagittarius A* is certainly not only an agent of destruction
因为向内落向黑洞的物质
because the material that falls inwards towards the black hole
不会全部消失在事件视界中。
doesn't all vanish across the event horizon.
其中很多进入黑洞周围的轨道。
A lot of it goes into orbit around the black hole.
而且那个地区非常暴♥力♥。
And that region is tremendously violent.
有磁场在旋转
There are magnetic fields that swirl around
并变得扭曲和扭曲，他们可以将材料扔出去
and become twisted and distorted, and they can throw material out
沿着黑洞的磁极，
along the magnetic poles of the black hole,
制♥造♥喷气式飞机，横扫银河系。
making jets that sweep through the galaxy.
直到最近我们才掌握了真正的规模
It's only recently that we've grasped the true scale
人马座A*的喷发。
of Sagittarius A*'s eruptions.
启动引擎。
Engine start.
一，零！
One, zero!
升空。
Lift off.
携带伽马射线望远镜的德尔塔火箭
The Delta rocket carrying a gamma-ray telescope
在星系的恒星中寻找看不见的物理学。
searching for unseen physics in the stars of the galaxies.
就在十多年前，有一个完全出乎意料的发现，
Just over a decade ago, a completely unexpected discovery was made,
比作在地球上发现一个全新的大♥陆♥。
likened to finding a brand-new continent here on Earth.
费米太空望远镜是为了探测伽马射线而建造的，
The Fermi Space Telescope was built to detect gamma-rays,
宇宙中能量最高的辐射。
the most energetic radiation in the universe.
当费米绕地球运行时，它构建了一张天空地图……
As Fermi orbited the Earth, it constructed a map of the sky...
..并看到，从银河系位面出现......
..and saw, emerging from the plane of the Milky Way...
..两个巨大的物质气泡，
..two colossal bubbles of material,
每 25,000 光年。
each 25,000 light years across.
这些气泡是过热气体。
These bubbles are superheated gas.
如果我们的眼睛对光的波长敏感
If our eyes were sensitive to the wavelengths of light
由那些气泡发出，它们将跨越半边天
emitted by those bubbles, they would span half the sky
从地球上看到的。
as seen from here on Earth.
它们又指向银河系的中心。
And they point back to the centre of the galaxy.
看起来他们的起源是人马座 A*。
It looks like their origin is Sagittarius A*.
考虑一下。
Think about that.
人马座 A* 很大，但在银河系尺度上并不大。
Sagittarius A* is big but not big on a galactic scale.
它将舒适地安装在水星的轨道内
It would fit comfortably inside the orbit of Mercury
在我们的太阳系中。
in our solar system.
虽然我们的黑洞只是它的一小部分
Though our black hole is only a fraction of the size
它周围的银河系......
of the galaxy around it...
..它已成为银河系的雕塑家。
..it had become sculptor of the Milky Way.
每隔几百万年，
Every few million years,
环绕我们黑洞的致密物质环……
the dense ring of material circling our black hole...
..通过扭曲磁场加速......
..was accelerated by twisting magnetic fields...
..进入过热物质的炽热射流。
..into fiery jets of superheated matter.