They're a place where the known laws of physics seem to break down; it's basically an area of total mystery.

關於黑洞，已知的物理學定律似乎被打破了，它基本上是一個完全神祕未知的領域。

Scientists are mostly baffled by them, but black holes seem to be an essential part of most galaxies.

黑洞對科學家而言還是個未知的難題，但它似乎是大多數星系重要的組成部分。

And unlocking their secrets could be the key to understanding the very fabric of our universe.

揭開它們的神秘面紗可能是讓我們了解宇宙結構的關鍵。

So, what do we know about black holes?

那麼，我們對黑洞到底瞭解多少呢？

Scientists have long predicted black holes as a theoretical possibility.

科學家們長期以來都將黑洞在理論上視為可能。

For most of the 20th century, they assumed they must exist.

在20世紀的大部分時間裡，他們認為黑洞一定存在。

But it wasn't until near the end of that century that they developed the methods to properly detect them.

但直到接近該世紀末，他們才發展出正確探測它們的方法。

Then, in 2019, a global research group made a huge leap forward⏤the first-ever image of a black hole.

然後在2019年，一個全球研究小組往前邁進了很大的一步──他們拍攝了有史以來第一張的黑洞影像。

Finally, after years of wondering, here was direct evidence that they do exist.

在多年的疑惑最後，有直接證據表明它們確實存在。

Admittedly, that image is a little less dramatic than the fiery tornado-like vacuums we see in films.

誠然，與我們在電影中看到的龍捲風狀、絢麗的空間相比，這個影像顯得不那麼壯麗。

Scientists are getting ever more details about these weird cosmic objects; they've even discovered what they sound like.

科學家們正在獲得有關這些奇怪宇宙物體的更多細節；他們甚至已經發現了他們的聲音。

But with still so much we don't understand about them, let's start with what we do know.

但我們對他們仍然有很多不瞭解，所以我們就先從我們所知道的事情開始。

A black hole is a region of space that is so dense, there's so much gravity that nothing⏤not even light⏤can escape.

黑洞是一個密度很大的空間，它有相當大的引力，以至於沒有任何東西，甚至光，能夠逃脫。

We know there are several types.

已知有幾種類型的黑洞。

First, there are stellar black holes.

首先，恆星黑洞。

They're formed when a massive star implodes and its outer layers explode in a supernova.

它由一顆大質量恆星向內塌陷形成超新星，超新星的外層再爆炸後形成。

We see these supernovas all the time.

我們經常看到這些超新星。

They're some of the brightest objects in the universe; sometimes, a supernova can be brighter than the entire galaxy.

他們是宇宙中最明亮的物體，有時一顆超新星可以比整個星系都要亮。

That's its inside.

那是它的內部。

If the star is big enough, the remains of its core will collapse into an infinitely tiny dimensionless point, and a stellar black hole is born.

如果恆星足夠大，其核心的殘骸將坍塌成一個極微點，一個恆星黑洞就誕生了。

There is so much gravity condensed into that point.

而相當大的引力在這個點上壓縮在一起。

We're talking several times the mass of the sun condensed into a point that's smaller than the smallest bit of an atom.

數倍於太陽的質量被壓縮進了比最小的原子還要小的一個點上。

Imagine it's very dense; it basically rips spacetime at that point, creates a hole, so, it's a point of infinite density.

想像一下，它的密度是非常大的；它基本上在那一點上撕裂了時空，形成一個洞，所以這個點的密度是無限的。

And that point is known as a singularity.

而那個點被稱為奇點。

We know that stellar black holes can have a mass 3 to 20 times greater than that of our sun.

我們知道，恆星黑洞的質量可以比太陽的質量大3到20倍。

They sound gigantic, but this is nothing compared to supermassive black holes.

這密度聽起來很龐大，但與超大質量黑洞相比，這算不了什麼。

These can be millions or even billions of times the mass of the sun.

超大質量黑洞的密度可能是太陽的數百萬甚至數十億倍。

No one really knows where they came from initially.

沒人真正知道它們最初來自哪裡。

Well, not yet, anyway.

嗯，仍然還沒有。

And it's thought that most galaxies, probably all galaxies, have a supermassive black hole at their center.

人們認為大多數星系，在其中心都有一個超大質量黑洞。

So, what about the reputation that black holes are cosmic hoovers that suck up anything and everything within reach?

那麼，黑洞是宇宙的吸塵器，在它的範圍內可以吸走所有任何的東西，這種說法又是怎麼回事呢？

We know this isn't entirely true.

我們知道這並不完全正確。

Not everything gets drawn in if it stays far enough away.

如果保持足夠遠的距離，並非所有東西都會被吸進來。

But if an object does get too close and it crosses what's known as the "event horizon" around a black hole, it's reached a point of no return.

但是，如果一個物體真的太過接近黑洞，並且越過了其周圍所謂的事件視界，那麼它就到達了不歸點。

It's pulled in towards the center, the singularity where gravity is infinite⏤at least that's the assumption.

它會被拉向中心，在奇點的引力是無限的──這是一個假設。

What's going on in that point to create that much gravity?

到底在那一點上發生了什麼，可以創造那麼大的引力？

Well, we know that if you have huge amounts of matter, matter creates gravity,

我們知道，如果你有大量的物質，物質就會產生引力，

if you have huge amounts of matter in a single point, there's gonna be lots and lots of density of gravity there.

如果在一個點上就有大量的物質，那麼那個點會有相當大密度的引力。

But that's about it.

但我們所知的也就這樣了。

Singularities are probably the most mysterious thing in physics; they're kind of like a word for something that we just do not understand.

奇點可能是物理學中最神祕的東西。它們有點像一個艱深費解的詞。

Despite pop culture depictions where the hero escapes the pull of a black hole,

儘管在流行文化的描述中，英雄逃脫了黑洞的牽引，

in reality, things probably wouldn't end well.

在現實中，這種事可能不會有好結果。

So, what happens, people think, is if you got close enough, then each atom will be drawn out one at a time until, essentially, your entire ship⏤and you on it, I'm assuming⏤would be drawn out into a line of atoms, essentially, a piece of spaghetti.

那麼會發生什麼呢？人們認為如果你足夠接近黑洞，基本上你和你的飛船的每一個原子都會被一個一個地拉伸，我這麼假設好了──你會被拉伸成一條原子線，基本上就像一條義大利麵一樣。

Scientists actually call this "spaghettification".

科學家實際上把這個稱為：「麵條化」。

It's been observed in stars as they cross the event horizon, dragged in by the black hole's unbeatable gravitational attraction.

當恆星穿過事件視界，被黑洞無可匹敵的引力拖入時，就觀察到了麵條化。

Even light can't escape a black hole.

即使是光也無法逃離黑洞。

This means, by definition, they're invisible.

這意味著，根據定義，黑洞是看不見的。

So, how do scientists detect them?

那麼，科學家如何檢測它們呢？

Black holes do have an impact on the space around them.

黑洞確實對其周圍的空間有影響。

They might have gravitational effects on other objects to make them rotate around the black hole.

它們可能對其他物體產生引力作用，使它們圍繞黑洞旋轉。

It's these telltale signs around a black hole that help identify them.

正是黑洞周圍的這些跡象來幫助我們辨識它們。

So, if they go past a star, then they will deform that star because they'll try and pull material away.

所以，如果它們經過一顆恆星，那麼它們會使那顆恆星變形，因為它們會試圖把物質拉走。

In 1971, it was these gravitational effects and radiation that led astronomers to identify a black hole for the first time.

1971年，正是引力效應和射線使天文學家們首次確定了黑洞。

They determined that X-rays were coming from a bright blue star orbiting a strange dark object.

他們確定X射線來自一顆明亮的藍色恆星，而它圍繞著一個奇怪的黑暗物體運行。

This radiation showed stellar material was being ripped away from the star and consumed by a black hole they labeled Cygnus X-1.

這個輻射顯示出恆星物質從恆星上被剝離，並且被一個黑色的洞所吞噬，他們給這個洞貼上了天鵝座X-1星的標籤。

Spotting patterns of radiation like this is still essential in detecting black holes today.

時至今日，發現像這樣的輻射模式對於探測黑洞仍然至關重要。

Around the event horizon, in the many, many billions of miles around the event horizon, gas and dust is very strongly affected by the gravitational effect of the black hole but doesn't get sucked in.

在事件視界周圍數十億英里的範圍內，氣體和塵埃會受到黑洞引力作用的強烈影響，但並不會被吸進去。

So, it will spin around around the black hole, lots of energy will go into it.

所以，它將圍繞黑洞旋轉，而很大的能量將會投入其中。

It might radiate in lots of different colors, including X-rays and Gamma rays, which are the most energetic forms of light.

它可能會放射出許多不同的顏色，包括X射線和伽馬射線，他們是最高能量的光的形式。

So, when we look at the images created by the event horizon telescope collaboration, it's the light from the material zooming around the black hole that we see.

因此，當我們看到由事件視界望遠鏡團隊所拍攝出來的照片時，我們看到的是來自黑洞周圍物質所放大的光。

It matched the models that they'd created of what light would look like if it was surrounding a black hole, but also, then bent by the gravity of the black hole.

這張照片與天文學家們所創建的模型相吻合，即光圍繞著黑洞，但被黑洞的引力影響而彎曲的模樣。

In 2022, the event horizon team released their second image, showing the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, The Milky Way.

2022年，事件視界團隊發佈了他們的第二張照片，呈現了我們銀河系中心的超大質量黑洞，也就是「銀河」。

Sagittarius A*, 27,000 light years away.

人馬座A*，一顆27000光年外的恆星。

If you've ever seen "Interstellar", the film, they have a CGI of a black hole, which was actually physically correct.

如果你看過《星際效應》，那部電影裡面有黑洞的電腦動畫，而那在物理上實際上是正確的。

There are other things about that film that aren't quite right about black holes.

那部電影還有其他一些關於黑洞不是非常正確的東西。

But the way it looked was actually based on real physics and that's what they saw in these pictures, essentially.

但那部電影中的黑洞實際上是基於真實的物理學，也就是他們在這些圖片中看到的。

A very fuzzy version of it, not as high definition as Interstellar, but that's what a black hole would look like.

照片上的黑洞是非常模糊的版本，沒有像《星際效應》那麼高的清晰度，但那就是黑洞的模樣。

Sagittarius A* appears in the sky as about the same size as a doughnut on the moon, so it looks very, very small.

人馬座A*，在天空中出現的大小與在月亮上出現的甜甜圈差不多，所以它看起來非常非常小。

Both images made by the Event Horizon team were groundbreaking, providing solid proof that black holes do exist.

事件視界小組製作的這兩張圖片都是開創性的，提供了黑洞確實存在的堅實證據。

But many mysteries remain, like where does matter swallowed by a black hole really go?

但許多謎團仍然存在，像是被黑洞吞噬的物質究竟去了哪裡？

According to general relativity, Albert Einstein's theory of gravitation, nothing can escape a black hole, so everything it consumes is destroyed.

根據廣義相對論，也就是艾爾伯特‧愛因斯坦的引力理論，沒有任何東西可以逃出黑洞，所以它所吞噬的一切都會被摧毀。

In 1974, Stephen Hawking theorized that black holes emit a tiny bit of radiation, now known as "Hawking radiation".

1974年，史蒂芬·霍金提出理論，認為黑洞會發出微小的輻射，現在被稱為「霍金輻射」。

This radiation causes a black hole to gradually lose mass and, after a very, very long time, eventually disappear.

這種輻射導致黑洞漸漸失去它的質量，它最終在長時間後會消失。

It appeared that all the information about what fell in the black hole was lost.

這樣似乎所有關於東西沈落入黑洞後的資訊都不存在了。

But this clashes with another fundamental of physics: quantum theory.

但這與另一個基本物理學相衝突──量子理論。

It states that even if an object is transformed or destroyed, its quantum information⏤details of each particle inside an object and how it behaves⏤can never be lost.

它指出，即使一個物體被改造或摧毀，其物體內部每個微觀物質的量子資訊，關於它的細節以及它的行為方式，永遠會存在。

This disagreement is called the "black hole information paradox".

這種分歧被稱為：「黑洞資訊悖論」。

These two big theories of physics don't agree with each other.

這兩大物理學理論彼此並不一致。

What physicists have been trying to do for decades now is to find ways to connect these theories up, in other words, to find another physical idea which encompasses both of them.

幾十年來，物理學家一直在努力尋找將這些理論連接起來的方法，換句話說，找到另一個能夠包含這兩種理論的物理概念。

Physicists could be close to unlocking this mystery, which may require a new theory altogether.

物理學家若要能夠解開這個謎團，就可能會需要一個全新的理論。

The only way to understand some of the biggest mysteries in the universe about what the universe is made of and where it's going in the future, not to mention where it came from.

這是瞭解宇宙一些最大的謎團的唯一途徑，關於宇宙是由什麼組成的，以及它在未來會去哪，更不用說它從哪裡來。

These are things that you can only understand if you have a more universal rule of physics, which we know we don't have.

這些事情只在有一個更宏觀的物理學規則時才能理解，而我們知道我們現在沒有。

The thing that we're looking for sits in the middle of the black hole.

我們要找的東西就在黑洞之中。

So, if you can find out what's in the middle of the black hole, you've solved physics, basically.

所以，如果你能找出到底是什麼在黑洞之中，你基本上就解決了物理學問題。

Well, maybe not all of physics, but probably some of its most enduring questions.

也許不是所有的物理學，但可能是它長期以來的謎團。

This is why black holes, in all their paradoxical, mind-bending glory, are so important.

這就是為什麼黑洞在這些自相矛盾的、令人費解的科學成就中如此重要的原因。

They could help not only further our understanding of the most fundamental rules of physics,

它們不僅可以幫助我們進一步瞭解物理學的最基本規則，

but might be the key to discovering more about other weird, mysterious parts of the universe, including the beginning of it all: the Big Bang.

也可能是發現宇宙其他奇怪、神祕部分的關鍵，包括一切的開始──大爆炸。

I'm Alok Jha, science correspondent at "The Economist".

我是《經濟學家》雜誌的科學記者，Alex。

To read more on this topic, please click on the link opposite.

想了解更多有關這一主題的資訊，請點擊旁邊的鏈接。

Thanks very much for watching, and don't forget to subscribe.

非常感謝您的觀看，不要忘記訂閱。