Black holes are some of the strangest places in the universe.

黑洞是宇宙中某種最不可思議的地方。

They are points in space where the gravity is so strong, nothing can escape their pull.

它們所在的地方有著強大的引力，沒有東西可以逃過它們的拉力。

Most black holes are created when a dying star runs out of fuel.

大多數的黑洞是在恆星即將用盡燃料時產生。

If the star is large enough, it starts to collapse in on itself.

如果恆星夠大，自身就會開始崩塌。

As its matter is compressed, it becomes so tightly packed into such a small space that

隨著壓縮其物質，它就會緊密塞在如此小的空間裡，

its gravitational force becomes huge -- and I mean really huge.

重力也會因此變大 -- 我是指非常非常大。

Black holes can pull in planets, stars... even light can't escape their grasp.

黑洞可以把行星、恆星拉進去......甚至是光線也無法逃脫它們的爪牙。

The Milky Way alone contains up to a billion of these so-called stellar black holes -- stellar,

單單銀河系中就有十億個所謂的「恆星黑洞」-- 之所以叫恆星

because they are formed by collapsing stars, and also, I assume, because they're awesome.

是因為它們是由恆星崩塌所形成的，我猜也是因為它們真的很讚。

They range in mass but are formed from a star that are at least 3 times as massive as our sun.

它們的質量範圍很大，但由恆星所形成，質量至少是太陽的3倍。

And it's the mass that counts, not the size.

質量是最重要的，而不是大小。

If a star the mass of Earth became a black hole, it would end up being only the size of a marble!

如果某個和地球質量一樣的恆星變成黑洞，它最後的大小只會和彈珠一樣！

Imagine holding the entire mass of the earth in the palm of your hand.

想像一下，你的手掌承受著整個地球的質量。

Of course, you couldn't really do that because the extreme gravitational pull would destroy

當然，你不可能真的這樣做，因為超強的引力會毀了你

you...along with your house, your neighborhood, and the entire planet.

你的家、鄰居，還有整個地球。

Let's move on.

我們繼續吧。

But there is something even larger than a stellar black hole.

但是有個甚至比恆星黑洞更大的東西。

Supermassive black holes can be millions or even billions of times as massive as our sun.

那就是「超大質量黑洞」，可能比太陽大上數百萬甚至數十億倍。

They can result from stars crashing into each other or smaller black holes merging together.

它們可能是由於恆星互撞，或者較小的黑洞合併在一起所造成的。

Astronomers think it's likely that every galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center -- even the Milky Way.

天文學家認為，每個星系的中心都有個超大質量黑洞 -- 銀河系也不例外。

So, should we be worried that we'll suddenly be sucked into a black hole and torn apart?

所以，我們該擔心會不會突然被吸入黑洞而成碎屑嗎？

Well, we're ok for now.

嗯，我們現在很安全。

The closest supermassive black hole to us, Sagittarius A, is 26,000 light years away.

離我們最近的超大質量黑洞「人馬座A*」，距離我們有 26,000 光年遠。

And you can't be pulled in unless you get really close to one.

除非你真的靠很近，否則是不會把你拉進去的。

For example, if our sun were to somehow become a black hole, it would still have the same mass,

舉例來說，如果我們的太陽以某種方式變成黑洞，其質量還會是一樣的，

just condensed, and Earth would continue orbiting it like normal.

只是壓縮起來而已，地球公轉也會持續下去。

Of course, we'd probably miss the solar radiation.

當然，我們可能會想念太陽輻射。

But what if we did encounter a black hole?

但是，如果我們真的遇到黑洞呢？

What happens inside of one?

黑洞裡面會發生什麼事？

Every black hole contains an event horizon, the point of no return, after which nothing can escape.

每個黑洞都有「事件視界」，一個回不去、也無法逃脫的地方。

Inside of this is the singularity -- the place where the star has collapsed down until it has zero volume and infinite density.

在這其中的就是奇點 - 恆星崩塌到體積無限小、密度無限大的地方。

Since everything past the event horizon disappears, it's really hard for us to know what's going on in the singularity.

由於每個經過事件視界的東西都消失了，我們很難知道奇點內發生了什麼事。

Maybe it's a huge party being thrown, and I wasn't invited.

也許裡面在辦一個大型派對，而我沒有受邀參加。

In fact, because black holes don't emit anything on their own, we've never actually seen one.

事實上，因為黑洞不會釋放出任何東西，所以我們從未真正看過它們。

We only know about them because of how they affect the matter around them.

我們只能從周圍受黑洞影響的物質來了解它們。

When the gases and dust of nearby galaxies get pulled into the event horizon, the atoms gain energy and heat up.

當附近星系的氣體和塵埃拉入事件視界時，原子會獲得能量從而升溫。

This causes them to emit radiation that we can read here on Earth.

因此我們在地球上可以看見釋放出的輻射，

Using this radiation, astronomers have a plan to create the first-ever image of a black hole!

天文學家計劃利用此輻射製造出第一個黑洞照片！

This isn't the kind of picture you'd snap on your phone and share on Instagram.

這不是你用手機拍下後分享到 Instagram 的照片。

Instead, 12 teams around the world will set up radio telescopes calibrated to the same

而是有 12 個來自各地的團隊，會將電波望遠鏡調整至相同的頻率 --

frequency -- 230 gigahertz -- all pointed at our supermassive black hole neighbor, Sagittarius A*

230 吉赫，通通指向我們超大質量黑洞的鄰居 ── 人馬座A*。

Their data will be pieced together as if it came from one giant, earth-sized radio telescope.

他們的資料會組合在一起，就像一個和地球一樣大的電波望遠鏡。

If it works correctly, researchers think that we'll be able to see the ring of radiation around Sagittarius A*.

如果正常運作的話，研究人員認為我們將能看到人馬座A *周圍的外圍輻射。

So, although we won't technically “see” the black hole itself, we'll essentially

雖然嚴格來說我們無法「看見」黑洞本身，我們基本上

be able to see its outline and the dark shadow that the black hole casts on the radiation.

能夠看到它的輪廓和黑洞在輻射上的影子。

This experiment could help us finally confirm that black holes do exist.

這個實驗最終可以幫助我們證實黑洞確實存在。

It could also be used to study how black holes change over time, how their magnetic fields work, and even how they destroy materials.

它還可用於研究黑洞如何隨時間變化、磁場如何運作，甚至了解如何摧毀物質的。

It's going to take quite a few months to get the data processed, so look for results in 2018.

處理資料需要好幾個月的時間，所以 2018 年再來看看結果吧。

But when it's done, good old Sagittarius A* will be the “star” of the show.

但是當完成之時，我們熟悉的人馬座A *將成為展覽中的焦點之「星」。

I hope it's ready for its close up.

我希望會有特寫照可以看。

Interesting question here, so, what would you most want to take a picture of in space?

有個有趣的問題，你最想在太空拍什麼照片呢？

A black hole?

黑洞？

A distant planet?

還是遙遠的星球？

Let me know in the comments below!

在下方留言讓我知道！