weird and complicated. What would happen if you fell inside one and what are they really?

如果我們掉進黑洞會發生什麼事? 而他們究竟是什麼呢?

First we need to talk about space and time: Space and time are the grand stage where the

首先我們需要來聊聊空間與時間: 空間與時間是展開宇宙這齣好戲

play of the universe unfolds. But space isn’t a fixed stage and time doesn’t tick the

的大舞台 但空間可不是一個固定的檯子，時間的流逝對每個人

same for everyone everywhere. In short, they are relative. Matter bends space and bent

及每個地方而言也不盡相同。簡單來說，他們是相對的 物質會扭曲空間

space tells matter how to move. Put some stars and planets on the stage, and it sags underneath

而扭曲的空間會影響物質的移動方式 把一些星球放在這個舞台上，舞台就會在他們之下下陷

them. That misshapen stage, with all its little warps and dips, gives us gravity. Black holes

這個奇形怪狀的舞台，包含了它所有的小彎曲和傾斜，賦予了我們重力

do not just bend the stage, they are like trap doors. Places with so much mass that

黑洞不只是將舞台彎曲，它們更像是像活板門 質量是如此巨大

the universe formed a ‘no-go’ zone where the rules change.

以至於宇宙形成了一個改變規則的「禁區」

Most black holes form when very massive stars die. We explained this process in detail in

大部分的黑洞都形成於質量非常龐大的恆星死亡 我們在中子星的影片中解釋過

our neutron star video – all you need to know, that in the final moments of really

詳細的過程，簡單來說在質量巨大恆星的

massive stars, their insides implode, at nearly a quarter of the speed of light. This packs

最後一刻，他們會用幾乎四分之一的光速內爆塌縮

so much mass, so close together that it creates something so dense that it sort of breaks

這囊括了非常大的質量，並且產生某種稠密到能打破

the stage of the universe. A black hole with ten times the mass of the sun would be barely

宇宙舞台的東西 一個質量是太陽10倍的黑洞只有

60 kilometers across.

60 公里寬

If you look directly at a black hole it looks like... nothing. The space under their control

如果你直視一個黑洞，它看起來就像……什麼都沒有 被他們控制住的空間

is blocked by an invisible, one-way border called the event horizon. The event horizon

被一個無法被看見、一個單向的邊界擋著 我們稱之為事件視界

forms a shell around a region of space that, once entered, is shielded from the rest of

事件視界在其空間的區域周圍形成一個殼 一旦進入，便會永遠與宇宙的其他部分隔絕

the universe forever. Because the black hole trap door deforms space so much, not even

而因為黑洞將空間過分的變形

light can escape it. And with nothing escaping to transfer information from the inside, it’s

就連光也逃不出他的影響 也因此沒有任何事物可以從內部送出任何訊息

impossible to tell what it really looks like.

要知道它實際看起來如何更是天方夜譚

We still can observe black holes because of their effect on matter. Things can orbit black

我們之所以依舊能觀測黑洞是因為它們對物質的影響 物體可以繞著黑洞

holes just as they can orbit the sun or a planet. Many black holes have discs of matter

就像他們能繞著太陽或是一個星球移動 許多黑洞都有環繞在事件視界外

orbiting outside the event horizon. This matter can become incredibly hot as close orbits

由物質組成的光環 這些物質會變得非常炙熱

can speed this matter up to half the speed of light, and tiny amounts of friction and

因為靠近軌道可以將物質加速至半個光速 任何微量的摩擦力

collisions between particles heat them to a billion degrees, making the space around

還有粒子的碰撞都會把他們加熱至10億度 讓這些在黑洞周圍的空間

these black holes, ironically, incredibly bright.

反而極盡明亮之能事

What would happen if you would try to get close, or even inside a black hole? First

如果你嘗試靠近它，會發生什麼事情呢? 或甚至直接在黑洞的裡頭?

of all, you would see the strangest funhouse mirror in the universe. Matter isn’t the

首先，你會看見宇宙有史以來最奇特的哈哈鏡

only thing orbiting a black hole: gravity is so strong near them that light can orbit

物質並不是唯一繞行著黑洞的東西 重力實在太強，使著附近的光也繞著黑洞轉

too. If you hovered just outside the event horizon, at the photon sphere, in any direction

如果你在事件視界外徘徊 在光子球層從任何方向望去，你只能看到...

you’d just see… yourself! Straight ahead would be the back of your own head, as light

你自己! 映入眼簾的會是自己的後腦勺

from your back travels around the black hole to your eyes. Gravity also alters the passage

因為光從你的後方環繞了黑洞一圈回到你的眼中 而重力也會改變時間本身的流逝

of time itself. The stronger the gravity, the slower time passes. While you watch the

重力越強，時光就流動的越慢

universe above you speed up, those far away will watch you in slow motion. If you chose

當你抬頭看著上方的宇宙加速，在遠處的人則會看到慢動作的你

to fly away from the black hole, you might find that eons have passed for the rest of

如果選擇飛離黑洞，你會發覺已經宇宙已經逝去了上萬年的時間

the universe, a freakish one-way time-travel trip to the future where your loved ones are

可以說是一個詭異又不可逆的抵達未來之旅

long dead.

而你所愛的一切也早已人去樓空

But getting close to a black hole can be incredibly dangerous. A painful death by ‘spaghettification’

然而靠近黑洞可能是極度危險的事情 等待著你的是「義大利麵效應」造成的淒慘死狀

awaits you. Because your feet are closer to the black hole than your head they feel a

因為你的雙腳相較於頭部更加靠近黑洞

stronger pull of gravity, enough to pull you apart. As you descend it gets worse, the pulling

他們會受到重力更強烈的拉扯，並將你扯得分崩離析 而你越往下掉事情就越糟

gets stronger, your body squeezed thinner and straighter until you’ve been reduced

拉力變得更強大，你的身體被扭曲得更薄更直 最後你變成一層薄薄的熱電漿

to a thin stream of hot plasma, gobbled up in one final slurp, never to be seen again.

被黑洞狼吞虎嚥的吞下最後一口，從此消失無蹤

Spaghettification is only a risk with smaller black holes, since they have much smaller

義大利麵效應是只發生在較小型的黑洞的風險 因為他們有更小的半徑

radii. If you go to the center of a galaxy and find a supermassive black hole, you might

如果你到達了銀河系的中心還找到了一個超大質量黑洞

be able to experience crossing the event horizon.

也許能體驗到穿過事件視界的感覺

As you approach the event horizon, a distant observer would think they never saw you enter

當你接近事件視界，一個遠方的觀測者會認為你並沒有進入事件視界

it, seeing you stop and fade. The last light you emit trickling up and out, away from the

只會看到你停下來還變暗了 最後從你身上反射出去的光緩緩的從事件視界溢出

event horizon. Meanwhile, from your perspective the void of the black hole rises up to meet

同時，從你的角度來看 黑洞的空無正快速擴張

you, as light from fewer directions can reach you. The blackness envelopes you until your

你能夠接收到的光源越來越少 無盡的黑暗將你包覆其中

only view of the universe you left is a tiny spot of light.

直到宇宙在你眼中只剩下一個小小的光點

Here, inside the event horizon, space and time are so horribly broken that real time

在這，事件視界內部，空間與時間非常破碎

travel is possible, so it’s probably a good thing that nothing gets out. If anything could

這使得時空旅行不是癡人說夢 所以沒有東西出來可能是件好事

escape it could create all sorts of time travel paradoxes and issues that break the universe.

如果任何東西逃離事件視界可能造成各種 摧毀宇宙的時間悖論和問題

As scary as the event horizon is, it keeps us safe from that drama.

儘管事件視界很可怕，但它讓我們遠離那場鬧劇

Whether you have survived this long doesn’t really matter, as now there is only the certainty

你是否能夠活那麼久其實無關緊要 因為現在能夠確定的是

of crushing death in your near future. Inside the event horizon space time itself is so

不久的將來你就會死於非命 在事件視界內部的空間

bent and warped, that whatever direction you move here, every “forward” you go, leads

既彎曲又被包覆其中 不管你往什麼方向移動，你所造成的每次「前進」

only towards the center of the black hole. Trying to go any direction only brings you

都只會把你帶往黑洞的中心 嘗試要前往任何方向只會讓你更快

to the center faster. To survive the longest, you must do: nothing.

抵達黑洞中心 要想活久一點唯一能做的事就是：什麼都別做

In the center of the black hole, we find the singularity. A single point with all the matter

在黑洞的中心，我們能發現奇點 所有物質穿越事件視界之後

that has ever crossed the event horizon, all crushed to a point infinitely small. There

全部被擠壓成一個無限小的小點

is no memory of the things that made it as stuff disappears down the black hole trapdoor

當物質永遠消失在黑洞裡之後，就再也沒有它們的任何記憶了

forever. The singularity makes all things equal. This actually breaks the universe in

奇點使萬物都變成平等的 這其實可說是用了個很酷的方式

really cool ways. We made a whole video about this problem if you want to learn more. But

打破了宇宙的法則 如果你感興趣的話我們有做了一整支相關影片

in a nutshell, everything that comes too close becomes black hole matter, concentrated at

但總而言之，任何事物靠得黑洞太近都會變成黑洞物質

the singularity.

聚集濃縮在奇點之中

This lack of a memory of its past, means that a black hole has only three properties: their

由於物質相關的過去記憶都已經不可考 這代表黑洞只有三個特性:

mass, spin, and electric charge. Everything else is lost. They’re a lot like fundamental

他們的質量、旋轉、以及電荷，至於其他的都已經喪失了 在這方面，

particles in that respect. This actually means that every single black hole in the universe

它們很像基本粒子 這事實上說明了每一個宇宙中的黑洞

is the same. Sure, their mass is different and some spin faster than others. But If we

都是相同的 沒錯，它們的質量不盡相同，而有些比其他轉得更快

were to put all the singularities into a magical physics museum, they would be identical, like

但如果我們將所有奇點都放進一個神奇的物理博物館 它們都會是相同的

electrons.

就像電子一樣

But just like fundamental particles, the properties of singularities are the best ways we can

但就如同基本粒子 奇點的特性是我們在理論上描述它們最佳方式

describe them on paper, rather than an accurate representation of reality. Our current theories

而不是對現實情況的精準表示

about the Universe, namely general relativity, are just not able to describe or explain them.

我們目前關於宇宙的理論，即廣義相對論 依舊無法描述或解釋它們

The curvature of space becomes infinite, density becomes infinite, and our rules just don’t

空間的曲度變得無窮大，緊密程度也無窮大 那我們的規則就不再適用

make sense. The singularity has no surface or size, something like a divide-by-zero error

奇點並沒有任何表面或是大小尺寸 就像是宇宙版本的「任何數除以0」一樣行不通

in the universe. So singularities might not even exist or be completely different things.

所以奇點甚至可能不存在或者是與我們的認知大相逕庭

But this is all we know right now, from the best prediction we have, from our best current

但這就是我們現在所知道的一切了，根據我們最好的預測

theory of spacetime.

也參考目前最合理的時空理論

Also, basically everything you’ve ever heard about black holes, even in this video, is

另外，基本上你聽過的任何有關黑洞的事情 包括這部影片

about theoretical black holes that aren’t spinning, because their math is so much easier.

都是基於黑洞不會旋轉的理論 因為在數學計算上簡單許多

But since black holes were born from dying stars that were spinning extremely quickly

然而自黑洞從死去的星體中誕生 那些死亡的星體在最後一刻以極高的速度旋轉著

in their last moments, as far as we know, all black holes in the universe should be

截至目前我們所知 所有的黑洞此時此刻應該都是在旋轉的

spinning right now. At incredible speeds too, up to 90 % the speed of light. This means

它們也是以大約90%光速的極快速度在旋轉

in reality, black holes are even more screwed up than they usually get credit for.

這事實上意味著，黑洞比我們想像得都更加扭曲

The singularities of rotating black holes are even wilder. The rotation causes them

旋轉黑洞的奇點更是狂放不羈

to swell outwards into a sort of ringularity. This rotation is so powerful, that space itself

旋轉使它們向外膨脹成一種環形奇點 這種旋轉是如此強大，以至於空間本身被拖曳

is dragged along. This creates another region around spinning black holes, called the Ergosphere

這在旋轉的黑洞周圍形成了另一個區域 我們稱之為「動圈」

where it’s impossible to stay still, no matter how hard you try. Like a rushing whirlpool

而這是個無論你用盡全力也不可能保持靜止不動的地方

of spacetime, the tide is irresistible and black hole makes you orbit it whether you

猶如洶湧澎湃的時空漩渦，無視你的意願強硬地讓你在浪潮之中

want to or not.

繞著它旋轉

Ok. So what will happen with black holes as the universe ages and dies around them? Again,

好。 隨著周圍的宇宙逐漸凋零老去，黑洞會發生什麼事？

we don’t know but have some ideas based on our current understanding of physics: Hawking

答案依然是：我們不知道 但基於目前對物理學的理解有一些想法：霍金輻射

radiation. In quantum field theory the vacuum of space is boiling with quantum fluctuations.

在量子場論中，空間的真空隨著量子漲落而沸騰

These fluctuations are creating matter and antimatter pairs of particles from nothing

這些張落反應不斷自虛無之中創造成對的物質與反物質

which only exist for a very short time before annihilating. When this happens near the event

他們在彼此湮滅之前只會存在極短的一段時間 而當這發生在靠近

horizon of a black hole, one of these particles can fall in, stopping them from annihilating.

黑洞的事件視界時 其中一個粒子可能會掉入黑洞，因此不會產生湮滅效應

The escaping particle is Hawking radiation. Ultimately, the mass of this particle must

這個逃出生天的粒子就形成霍金輻射 無論如何，這個粒子的質量一定

come from the black hole, so over eons black holes will shrink and radiate away. Hawking

來自於黑洞 所以黑洞會縮小並向四周輻射發散

radiation is not the stuff that fell into the black hole, it’s new stuff, stealing

霍金輻射不是掉進黑洞的東西 它是新的東西，並從中竊取質量

mass from it. As the black hole shrinks the Hawking radiation gets stronger, faster and

隨著黑洞的縮小，霍金輻射變得更強且愈來愈快

faster, until what’s left eventually evaporates in a flash of high energy radiation like a

直到最後殘留的一點在一個好似核爆一般的高能閃光之下

nuclear bomb. And then, nothing.

消散殆盡 然後，就什麼也沒了

But that won’t happen for a long long time. A black hole with the mass of our sun has

不過這並不會在很長很長的一段時間內發生 一個擁有跟太陽相同質量的黑洞

a lifetime of 10^67 years. Which means that it would take 10,000 billion, billion, billion,

能夠存在10的67次方年 也就是說它需要花上一百億..億..億..億..

billion,billion, billion years, to lose 0.0000001% of its mass. But most black holes are way

億..億..億..年才會失去0.0000001%的質量

more massive than our sun. The most massive supermassive black holes in the centers of

但絕大多數的黑洞質量都遠大於太陽 星系中心質量最大的超大質量黑洞

galaxies have lifetimes of 10^100 years. How long is that? Imagine an hourglass, filled

可以存活10的100次方年 那樣有多長? 試想像一個沙漏

with one grain of sand for every single particle in the universe. Every ten billion years one

每一粒沙都對應到宇宙中的一個粒子 每100億年才會有一粒

single grain of sand falls to the bottom. If we waited for the entire sand to fall down,

沙掉落到沙漏下方 就算我們等著全部的沙都落下

not even a percent of the lifetimes of these black holes would have passed. There is no

所流逝的時間甚至不到這些黑洞生命週期的百分之一

good concept for our brains to grasp these time scales.

很難有一個適當的概念讓大腦掌握像這樣的時間尺度

Will we ever truly understand black holes? Really know what’s going on inside them?

我們會真的了解黑洞嗎? 真正的了解其內部發生了什麼事?

No one knows. We can only see their outsides, and the theories we have probably get their

無人知曉 我們只能從外部管中窺豹，而目前的有關理論也可能是錯的

insides wrong. But it’s okay to not know everything. It just means there is still work

不過有所不知也沒有關係 這只意味著還有許多事情值得去完成

to be done. It means there are still mysteries to solve and big ideas to think about, which

意味著仍有許多謎團懸而未解，還有重要的點子值得我們思考

is why humans do science. In the end we at least can be sure that we still have plenty

這就是為什麼人類從事科學研究 直至最後至少能夠確定在一切消亡之前

of time left to think about them before the last one melts away.

我們還有大把的時間去思索這些事情

If you want to continue thinking about black holes a tad more, you can do so by getting

如果你想繼續深入思考黑洞的話 可以透過得到

one of the many black hole related things the Kurzgesagt team made with love. Like our

Kurzgesagt 團隊用愛製作的許多與黑洞相關的周邊來達成

Black Hole Infographic Poster that teaches you all the Black Hole basics. Or our Choose

像是我們的黑洞資訊海報，它教你所有的黑洞基礎知識

Your Own Black Hole Adventure Poster that takes you on a spectacular ride and might

或是我們的「自己的黑洞之旅」海報 這將為你帶來一次嘆為觀止的旅程

leave you in need of a cuddle. In which case we made a Black Hole & White Hole Plushie

並可能最後讓你需要一個溫暖的擁抱 為了這種情況，我們製作了一個黑洞&白洞布偶

for that. And if that’s still not enough we also just released super comfy Space Socks,

要是這樣還不夠，我們也剛釋出了穿起來超級舒服的太空襪

very shiny Space Pins, a new Tote Bag & Pouch Set and have many other great space related

超級閃亮太空別針，新的手提袋&小包包組合 還有非常多很棒的太空相關

products that are all designed with love and care by us here at kurzgesagt.

的周邊產品 他們全都是Kurzgesagt團隊用愛與關懷設計的

Getting something from our shop is the best way to support kurzgesagt while getting something

從我們的商店裡帶些什麼走是對Kurzgesagt最好的支持

beautiful in return. Because of you we can keep making elaborate videos like the one

同時也能得到一些美麗的東西 因為有你們，我們才能夠精心製作像是你正在看的這部影片

you just watched, and release them for free, for everyone. Thank you so much for your support!

並且讓大家都能夠免費欣賞 非常感謝大家的支持!