| The most energetic particles in the universe likely come from enormous black holes nestled in the restless hearts of traumatized galaxies, scientists say. |
科學(xué)家們稱(chēng),，宇宙中能量最高的粒子很可能來(lái)自巨型黑洞,，這些黑洞坐落于備受創(chuàng)傷星系的動(dòng)蕩核心區(qū)域。 |
| Where these cosmic "bullets" originated has been a source of much speculation, with scientists proposing everything from gamma ray bursts to decaying dark matter. |
這些宇宙“子彈”（指能量最高的粒子）的來(lái)源引起了科學(xué)家們的許多推測(cè),，他們想到了包括從伽瑪射線(xiàn)的爆發(fā)到衰變中的暗物質(zhì)在內(nèi)的一切,。 |
| But researchers using the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina have found that the sources of the cosmic rays are not uniformly distributed across the sky. Instead, they appear to be coming from energetic supermassive black holes in the hearts of some galaxies, called Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), which were also strongly suspected of being behind the rays. |
然而,，研究人員利用阿根廷的皮埃爾·奧格天文臺(tái)發(fā)現(xiàn)：宇宙射線(xiàn)源并不是均勻地分布于太空中的,，相反，宇宙射線(xiàn)好象來(lái)自于一些星系中心區(qū)域的高能巨大黑洞,。這些黑洞被稱(chēng)為活動(dòng)星系核（AGN）,，研究人員曾經(jīng)強(qiáng)烈地懷疑這些黑洞位于射線(xiàn)的背后,。 |
| Study team member and Nobel laureate James Cronin of the University of Chicago called the finding, detailed in the Nov. 9 issue of the journal Science, a "fundamental discovery." |
研究小組成員、諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)獲得者芝加哥大學(xué)的詹姆士·克羅寧將這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)稱(chēng)為一個(gè)“根本的發(fā)現(xiàn)”,。該發(fā)現(xiàn)被詳盡地記錄在11月9日出版的《科學(xué)》雜志上,。 |
| "The age of cosmic-ray astronomy has arrived," Cronin said. "In the next few years, our data will permit us to identify the exact sources of these cosmic rays and how they accelerate these particles." |
克羅寧指出：“宇宙射線(xiàn)天文學(xué)的時(shí)代已經(jīng)到來(lái)了。在接下來(lái)的幾年里,，所掌握的數(shù)據(jù)資料將能夠使我們找到這些宇宙射線(xiàn)的確切來(lái)源,，并且可以讓我們發(fā)現(xiàn)這些射線(xiàn)源是如何使粒子加速的。 |
| Cosmic particle accelerators |
宇宙粒子加速器 |
| Black holes are dense regions in space where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape. Supermassive holes can have masses that are millions to billions times that of our sun. |
黑洞是太空中的高密度區(qū)域,，引力極其強(qiáng)大,，任何事物——哪怕是光，也無(wú)法逃脫其引力束縛,。巨型黑洞的質(zhì)量可以達(dá)到我們太陽(yáng)質(zhì)量的數(shù)百萬(wàn)倍至數(shù)十億倍不等,。 |
| Scientists think most galaxies, including our Milky Way, have supermassive black holes at their cores, but only a fraction of these are thought to be AGNs. Galaxies with AGNs seem to be those that suffered a collision with another galaxy or some other massive disruption in the last few hundred million years. |
科學(xué)家們認(rèn)為，大多數(shù)星系包括我們銀河系在內(nèi),，在中心區(qū)域都擁有巨型黑洞,，但是其中只有一小部分被認(rèn)為是活動(dòng)星系核。擁有活動(dòng)星系核的星系,，好象是那些在過(guò)去的幾億年中跟其他星系遭遇過(guò)碰撞的星系,，或者是遭受過(guò)其他大規(guī)模破壞的星系,。 |
| AGNs devour gas and dust swirling in from their host galaxies and, through processes that are still unclear, kick some particles out at nearly the speed of light. |
活動(dòng)星系核吞噬著從其所在星系盤(pán)繞而入的氣體與塵埃，同時(shí)將一些粒子以接近光速的速度“踢”出去,，然而科學(xué)家們對(duì)這個(gè)過(guò)程尚不清楚,。 |
| "If you had asked a theorist before the cosmic rays were discovered if anything could be accelerated to such high energies, they would say, 'No,'" said study team member Glennys Farrar of New York University. "So it's really amazing that nature does this." |
“在發(fā)現(xiàn)宇宙射線(xiàn)之前，如果你向一名理論家詢(xún)問(wèn)：是否可以將某物加速到如此之高的能量,？他們會(huì)回答說(shuō)：‘不可能,！’”研究小組成員,、紐約大學(xué)的格蘭尼斯·法勒說(shuō),，“所以說(shuō)大自然做到了這一點(diǎn)，真是令人驚訝不已,！” |
| Cosmic rays are thought to consist of protons and atoms stripped of their electrons. When one of these tiny particles smashes into Earth's upper atmosphere, it creates a cascade of secondary particles collectively called an air shower that can spread across 15 or more square miles (40 square kilometers) before hitting the ground. |
科學(xué)家們認(rèn)為宇宙射線(xiàn)中包含質(zhì)子和失去了電子的原子,。當(dāng)其中的一個(gè)微粒沖進(jìn)地球大氣上層的時(shí)候，就會(huì)產(chǎn)生二級(jí)粒子的噴流,，統(tǒng)稱(chēng)為空氣簇射,。空氣簇射可擴(kuò)展到15平方英里或更大（相當(dāng)于40平方公里）的范圍,，然后撞擊到地面,。 |
| In the study, the researchers traced 20 out of 27 high-energy cosmic-ray events to 20 known AGNs. The researchers say there is less than a one-in-100 chance that the correlation between the cosmic rays and AGNs is random. |
在這項(xiàng)研究中，研究人員將27個(gè)高能宇宙射線(xiàn)事件中的20個(gè)追溯到20個(gè)已知的活動(dòng)星系核中,。研究人員稱(chēng),，宇宙射線(xiàn)與活動(dòng)星系核之間不規(guī)則相關(guān)的概率不過(guò)1%。 |
| Other sources? |
宇宙射線(xiàn)的其他來(lái)源 |
| They estimate the cosmic ray-spewing AGNs are located within 326 million light years of the Milky Way. "This is our local neighborhood in cosmic terms," said study team member Miguel Mostafa of the University of Utah. |
研究人員估計(jì),，噴出宇宙射線(xiàn)的活動(dòng)星系核坐落在銀河周?chē)綀A3.26億光年以?xún)?nèi),。“從宇宙的尺度來(lái)講,，這就相當(dāng)于我們本地的近鄰,，”研究小組成員、猶他大學(xué)的米格爾·莫斯塔法說(shuō),。 |
| Because not every cosmic ray particle was accounted for, the results leave room for other sources to exist, but it could also be they emanated from AGNs that haven't been discovered yet, Farrar told SPACE.com. |
法勒告訴《太空網(wǎng)》的記者：由于還沒(méi)有將每一個(gè)宇宙射線(xiàn)粒子都解釋清楚,，該研究結(jié)果并不排除其他來(lái)源的存在，但是宇宙射線(xiàn)粒子也有可能源自尚未發(fā)現(xiàn)的活動(dòng)星系核,。 |
| And while the new study strongly links high-energy cosmic rays to AGNs, further studies will be needed to make the case air-tight. "It could be there is something that hangs around AGNs that are the true source," Farrar said. "What we know right now is if you find a [high-energy] cosmic ray, it is much more likely than random chance there will be AGN with it." |
盡管這項(xiàng)新研究將高能宇宙射線(xiàn)跟活動(dòng)星系核密切地聯(lián)系在一起,，但仍將需要進(jìn)一步研究，以便使該結(jié)果無(wú)懈可擊,。法勒說(shuō)：“情況有可能是這樣的：活動(dòng)星系核附近的某處是宇宙射線(xiàn)的真正來(lái)源,。我們現(xiàn)在所了解到的情況是：如果你發(fā)現(xiàn)了一條高能宇宙射線(xiàn)，它很可能跟活動(dòng)星系核有關(guān),，而不大可能是隨意的巧合,?！?/SPAN> |
