2022年10月20日 天文學(xué)家研究有史以來最亮的光爆發(fā)的影響

Astronomers have observed the brightest burst of light ever seen, from an event that happened 2.4 billion light-years from Earth. A light year is about 9.4 trillion kilometers.
天文學(xué)家從距離地球 24 億光年的一次事件中觀察到了有史以來最亮的光爆發(fā)。一光年大約是9.4萬億公里。

The scientists say the burst was probably caused when a black hole formed.
科學(xué)家們說，爆炸可能是黑洞形成時引起的?？茖W(xué)家們說，爆炸可能是黑洞形成時引起的。

Gamma rays are among the most intense forms of electromagnetic radiation. The burst was first noted by orbiting telescopes on Sunday. Scientists across the world are continuing to observe its effects.
伽馬射線是最強烈的電磁輻射形式之一。周日，軌道望遠鏡首先注意到了這次爆發(fā)。世界各地的科學(xué)家正在繼續(xù)觀察它的影響。

Astrophysicist Brendan O'Connor spoke to the French News Agency. He said gamma ray bursts that last hundreds of seconds, as this one did, are thought to be caused when massive stars explode. Such stars are about 30 times the size of the Sun.
天體物理學(xué)家布倫丹·奧康納（Brendan O'Connor）接受了法新社的采訪。他說，像這次一樣，持續(xù)數(shù)百秒的伽馬射線爆發(fā)被認為是由大質(zhì)量恒星爆炸引起的。這樣的恒星大約是太陽大小的 30 倍。

The massive star explosion, called a supernova, results in a massive black hole. A disk of matter forms around the black hole as it falls inside the massive object. Energy is also expelled away from the black hole in a jet. The expelled energy moves at 99.99 percent the speed of light.
巨大的恒星爆炸，稱為超新星，會產(chǎn)生一個巨大的黑洞。當黑洞落入大質(zhì)量物體內(nèi)部時，會在黑洞周圍形成一個物質(zhì)盤。能量也被噴射出黑洞。排出的能量以 99.99% 的光速移動。

The gamma ray burst released photons carrying a record amount of energy. It affected longwave radio communications in Earth's ionosphere.
伽馬射線爆發(fā)釋放出攜帶創(chuàng)紀錄能量的光子。它影響了地球電離層的長波無線電通信。

"It's really breaking records, both in the amount of photons, and the energy of the photons that are reaching us," said O'Connor. The scientist used infrared instruments on the Gemini South telescope in Chile to take new observations recently.
“無論是光子數(shù)量還是到達我們的光子能量，這確實打破了記錄，”奧康納說。這位科學(xué)家最近使用智利雙子座南方望遠鏡上的紅外儀器進行了新的觀測。

"Something this bright, this nearby, is really a once-in-a-century event," he added.
“這么明亮，這么近的地方，真的是百年一遇的事件，”他補充道。

"Gamma ray bursts in general release the same amount of energy that our sun produces over its entire lifetime" in just a few seconds, he noted.
他指出，“伽馬射線爆發(fā)通常會在短短幾秒鐘內(nèi)釋放出與太陽在其整個生命周期中產(chǎn)生的能量相同的能量”。

"And this event is the brightest gamma ray burst," O'Conner said.
“這個事件是最亮的伽馬射線爆發(fā)，”奧康納說。

The gamma ray burst was first found by telescopes including NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, and the Wind spacecraft on Sunday.
伽馬射線爆發(fā)最早是由包括美國宇航局費米伽馬射線太空望遠鏡、尼爾格勒斯斯威夫特天文臺和 Wind 宇宙飛船在內(nèi)的望遠鏡在周日發(fā)現(xiàn)的。
 
1.9 billion-year-old movie
19 億年前的電影
 
The burst came from the direction of the constellation Sagitta and traveled an estimated 1.9 billion years to reach Earth. That is less than the current distance of its starting point because of the expansion of the universe.
Observing the event now is like watching a 1.9 billion-year-old recording of those events. Astronomers have the rare chance to learn more about black hole formation and other mysteries.
爆發(fā)來自人馬座的方向，估計行進了 19 億年才到達地球。由于宇宙的膨脹，這小于其起點的當前距離。

O'Connor works with the University of Maryland and George Washington University. He said he and others will continue watching for the expected signs of supernovas at different wavelengths. The researchers aim to confirm that their theory about the burst's beginnings is correct, and that the event obeys the laws of physics.
現(xiàn)在觀察這一事件就像觀看這些事件的 19 億年前的記錄。天文學(xué)家有難得的機會了解更多關(guān)于黑洞形成和其他謎團的信息。

Supernova explosions are also predicted to be responsible for producing heavy elements such as gold, platinum and uranium. Astronomers will also be hunting for those heavy metals.
奧康納與馬里蘭大學(xué)和喬治華盛頓大學(xué)合作。他說他和其他人將繼續(xù)觀察不同波長的超新星的預(yù)期跡象。研究人員旨在確認他們關(guān)于爆發(fā)開始的理論是正確的，并且該事件符合物理定律。超新星爆炸還預(yù)計會產(chǎn)生金、鉑和鈾等重元素。天文學(xué)家也將尋找這些重金屬。