0413英語流利閱讀筆記:科學家即在銀河系中首次「觀測」到黑洞

Scientists close to first sighting o

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Scientists close to first sighting of black hole in the Milky Way

科學家即將在銀河系中首次「觀測」到黑洞

Astronomers attempting to capture the first images of the black hole at the heart of the Milky Way have given early hints that the ambitious project has been successful.

天文學家試圖捕捉位於銀河系中心的黑洞的第一批圖像，他們提前給出了暗示：這個雄心勃勃的計劃取得了成功。

The observations, by the Event Horizon Telescope, are expected to be unveiled in the spring in one of the most eagerly awaited scientific announcements of 2019.

Now, a senior scientist on the project has said 「spectacular」 data was gathered during observations of two black holes: Sagittarius A*, at the centre of the Milky Way, and a supermassive black hole called M87 in the Virgo cluster of galaxies.

來自事件視界望遠鏡（EHT）的觀測結果有望在今年春天的科學發布會上公開，這將會是 2019 年最受期待的發布之一。

該項目的一位資深科學家說，目前已經通過對兩個黑洞的觀測，收集到了「驚人的」數據，這兩個黑洞分別為：銀河系中心的人馬座 A* 和室女座星系團中一個叫做 M87 星系黑洞的超大質量黑洞。

Prof Peter Galison, who is involved in the project, said that, if successful, the EHT’s first image would become one of the most significant in the past 50 years of astronomy. 「It’s an extraordinarily ambitious project,」 he said.

參與該項目的彼得·蓋裡森教授說，如果成功的話，EHT 的第一張黑洞圖像將成為 50 年以來天文學中最重要的圖像之一。他說：「這是一個極其雄心勃勃的項目。」

There is little doubt about the existence of black holes. Until now, a black hole has never been directly observed. The main barrier is that black holes are so compact that a telescope roughly the size of Earth would be required to see even the nearest one.

黑洞的存在是毫無疑問的。但直到現在，黑洞還沒能被直接觀測到。主要的障礙是，黑洞太過緻密，以至於即使是離我們最近的黑洞，都需要一個大約地球大小的望遠鏡才能觀測到。

The EHT gets around this by linking together 15-20 telescopes. It uses a technique known as interferometry, in which astronomers on different continents simultaneously observe the same object, then combine the collected data on a supercomputer.

而 EHT 通過連接 15-20 個望遠鏡來巧妙地應對這一問題。它使用了一種被稱為「幹涉測量術」的技術，用這種技術，在不同大陸的天文學家可以同時觀測同一目標，然後將收集到的數據組合在一臺超級計算機上。

Detailed observations will also be made of dramatic jets of material that are thrown out from some black holes. It is not clear whether Sagittarius A* has jets—it is possible that they are too feeble to have been spotted previously—and the EHT could resolve this question.

（天文學家）還將詳細觀察從一些黑洞中噴射出的壯觀的噴流物質。目前尚不清楚人馬座 A* 是否有噴流，因為它們可能太過微弱，以至於之前從未被發現，而 EHT 也許可以解決這個問題。

詞彙詳解：

1. black hole黑洞

2. at the heart of…：在…的中心

3. unveil [n'vel]

vt. 使公之於眾，揭開；揭幕

vi. 除去面紗；顯露

例：Mr. Werner unveiled his new strategy this week.

沃納先生本周公布了他的新策略。

4. be involved in

牽涉；涉及；參與

5. barrier ['br]

n. 障礙物，屏障；界線

vt. 把…關入柵欄

n. (Barrier)人名；(法)巴裡耶

The main barrier 主要困難，主要障礙

6. gets around

解決，應付；（消息）傳開；避開（法律）；四處走動

None of these countries has found a way yet to get around the problem of the polarization of wealth.

這些國家均未找到一個方案來解決貧富兩極分化的問題。

7. simultaneously [sml'tensl] 同時地

8. feeble ['fib()l]

adj. 微弱的，無力的；虛弱的；薄弱的

[比較級 feebler 最高級 feeblest ]

例：He told them he was old and feeble and was not able to walk so far.

他告訴他們自己年老體弱，不能走那麼遠。