每日英语听力外刊精读20230720:韦伯望远镜探测到有史以来最遥远的超大质量黑洞


文本选自:CNN(美国有线电视新闻网)
作者:Jackie Wattles
原文标题:Webb telescope spies most distant supermassive black hole ever recorded
原文发布时间:16 Jul. 2023
Webb telescope spies most distant supermassive black hole ever recorded
The James Webb Space Telescope has delivered yet another astounding discovery, spying an active supermassive black hole deeper into the universe than has ever been recorded. The black hole lies within CEERS 1019 — an extremely old galaxy likely formed 570 million years after the big bang — making it more than 13 billion years old. And scientists were perplexed to find just how small the celestial object's central black hole measures.
"This black hole clocks in at about 9 million solar masses," according to a NASA news release. A solar mass is a unit equivalent to the mass of the sun in our home solar system — which is about 333,000 times larger than the Earth. That's "far less than other black holes that also existed in the early universe and were detected by other telescopes, " according to NASA. "Those behemoths typically contain more than 1 billion times the mass of the Sun – and they are easier to detect because they are much brighter." The ability to bring such a dim, distant black hole into focus is a key feature of the Webb telescope, which uses highly sensitive instruments to detect otherwise invisible light.
"Looking at this distant object with this telescope is a lot like looking at data from black holes that exist in galaxies near our own, " Rebecca Larson, who received her doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin this year, said in a statement. Larson, who led this discovery, is now a postdoctoral research associate at the Rochester Institute of Technology's School of Physics and Astronomy.
韦伯望远镜探测到有史以来最遥远的超大质量黑洞

精听党背景导读
美国宇航局(NASA)的詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜(JWST)在遥远的星系中发现了一个132亿年前的超大质量黑洞,质量约为太阳质量的900万倍,是迄今为止探测到的最古老的黑洞,可能会改变我们对早期宇宙的认识。这个巨大的黑洞位于CEERS 1019星系的中心。
文本选自:CNN(美国有线电视新闻网)作者:Jackie Wattles原文标题:Webb telescope spies most distant supermassive black hole ever recorded原文发布时间:16 Jul. 2023关键词:望远镜 黑洞 太阳系
精听党带着问题听
1.“突飞猛进”用英语可以怎么表达?2. 如何理解段二中的“key feature”?3. 太阳质量大约是地球的多少倍?
精听党选段赏析
标题解读
Webb telescope spies most distant supermassive black hole ever recorded
韦伯望远镜探测到有史以来最遥远的超大质量黑洞
spy vt. 从事间谍活动;突然看见,认出;秘密监视;探明,查明;
distant adj. 遥远的,久远的;
supermassive black hole 超大质量黑洞;1. supermassive adj. 特大质量的;
段一
The James Webb Space Telescope has delivered yet another astounding discovery, spying an active supermassive black hole deeper into the universe than has ever been recorded. The black hole lies within CEERS 1019 — an extremely old galaxy likely formed 570 million years after the big bang — making it more than 13 billion years old. And scientists were perplexed to find just how small the celestial object’s central black hole measures.
astounding adj. 令人震惊的;令人惊骇的;1. make astounding advances 突飞猛进;
lie vi. 平躺,平卧;位于,坐落在;存在,在于;处于,保持(某种状态);
big bang 大爆炸;
perplexed adj. 困惑的;不知所措的;
celestial adj. 天空的,天上的;1. celestial mechanics [天] 天体力学;
参考译文
詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜发布了另一个令人震惊的发现,它发现了一个活跃的超大质量黑洞,比以往任何时候都更深入宇宙。这个黑洞位于宇宙大爆炸后5.7亿年形成的一个极其古老的星系——CEERS 1019内,这使它的年龄超过130亿年。科学家们困惑地发现,这个天体的中心黑洞到底有多小。
段二
“This black hole clocks in at about 9 million solar masses,” according to a NASA news release. A solar mass is a unit equivalent to the mass of the sun in our home solar system — which is about 333,000 times larger than the Earth. That’s “far less than other black holes that also existed in the early universe and were detected by other telescopes,” according to NASA. “Those behemoths typically contain more than 1 billion times the mass of the Sun – and they are easier to detect because they are much brighter.” The ability to bring such a dim, distant black hole into focus is a key feature of the Webb telescope, which uses highly sensitive instruments to detect otherwise invisible light.
solar masses 太阳质量;
news release 新闻发布;新闻稿;
equivalent to 等于,相当于;
behemoth n. 巨兽;庞然大物;
typically adv. 典型地,有代表性地;一般,通常;
dim adj. 暗淡的,昏暗的;模糊的,看不清的;1. She stood waiting in the dim light. 她站在昏暗的灯光下等待着。
key feature 关键特征;主要功能;1. Teamwork is a key feature of the training programme. 团队合作是这项训练计划的重要特点。
sensitive adj. 过敏的,易受影响的;灵敏的;1. an extremely sensitive microscope 一台极为灵敏的显微镜;
参考译文
根据美国国家航空航天局(NASA)的新闻稿:“这个黑洞的质量约为900万个太阳质量。”太阳质量的单位相当于我们太阳系中太阳的质量——大约比地球大333,000倍。据美国国家航空航天局(NASA)称,这“远远低于其他望远镜探测到的早期宇宙中存在的黑洞”。“这些庞然大物的质量通常是太阳的10亿倍以上——而且它们更容易被探测到,因为它们要亮得多。”韦伯望远镜的一个关键特征是能够聚焦如此昏暗、遥远的黑洞,它使用高灵敏度的仪器来探测原本看不见的光。
段三
“Looking at this distant object with this telescope is a lot like looking at data from black holes that exist in galaxies near our own,” Rebecca Larson, who received her doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin this year, said in a statement. Larson, who led this discovery, is now a postdoctoral research associate at the Rochester Institute of Technology’s School of Physics and Astronomy.
doctorate n. 博士(学位);
Austin n. 奥斯汀(美国得克萨斯州首府);
postdoctoral adj. 博士后的;博士学位取得后的;1. the post-80s generation 80后;2. postgraduate n. <英>研究生;
research associate 研究助理;
Physics and Astronomy 物理与天文学院;
参考译文
今年在得克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校获得博士学位的丽贝卡·拉尔森在一份声明中说:“用这台望远镜观察这个遥远的天体,就像观察我们附近星系中存在的黑洞的数据一样。”领导这一发现的拉森现在是罗切斯特理工学院物理和天文学院的博士后研究助理。
精听党每日单词
spy
 /spaɪ/ vt. 从事间谍活动;突然看见,认出;秘密监视;探明,查明;
distant
 /ˈdɪstənt/ adj. 遥远的,久远的;
supermassive black hole
 超大质量黑洞;
astounding
 /əˈstaʊndɪŋ/ adj. 令人震惊的;令人惊骇的;
lie
 /laɪ/ vi. 平躺,平卧;位于,坐落在;存在,在于;处于,保持(某种状态);
big bang
 大爆炸;
perplexed
 /pərˈplekst/ adj. 困惑的;不知所措的;
celestial
 /səˈlestʃ(ə)l/ adj. 天空的,天上的;
solar masses
 太阳质量;
news release
 新闻发布;新闻稿;
equivalent to
 等于,相当于;
behemoth
/bɪˈhiːməθ/ n. 巨兽;庞然大物;
typically
 /ˈtɪpɪkli/ adv. 典型地,有代表性地;一般,通常;
dim
 /dɪm/ adj. 暗淡的,昏暗的;模糊的,看不清的;
key feature
 关键特征;主要功能;
sensitive
 /ˈsensətɪv/ adj. 过敏的,易受影响的;灵敏的;
doctorate
 /ˈdɑːktərət/ n. 博士(学位);
Austin
 /ˈɔːstən/ n. 奥斯汀(美国得克萨斯州首府);
postdoctoral
 /ˌpoʊstˈdɑːktərəl/ adj. 博士后的;博士学位取得后的;
research associate
 研究助理;
Physics and Astronomy
 物理与天文学院;
精听党文化拓展
此前最古老超大质量黑洞发现于2021年,形成于130亿年前。研究小组表示,新发现的古老黑洞仍在不断增长,它正在吞噬周围的星际气体和尘埃。
科学家们对这个黑洞是如何在138亿年前宇宙大爆炸后这么快就形成而感到困惑,因为大多数黑洞都是在10亿年前出现的。
当科学家们收到关于这个巨大黑洞的数据时,他们正在进行由史蒂文(Steven Finkelstein)领导的宇宙演化早期发布科学(CEERS)调查。CEERS 1019中的黑洞与我们银河系中心的黑洞更为相似,后者的质量是太阳的460万倍。
然而,它比大多数质量超过太阳10亿倍的黑洞小得多。黑洞的形成是由于一颗质量非常大的恒星的中心塌缩到了自己的内部,留下了一个没有光线进入或逃逸的真空。
该项目还在CEERS 746和CEERS 2782星系中发现了另外两个黑洞,它们的质量稍大,是太阳质量的1000万倍。天文学家称这三个星系为CEERS“轻量级”星系,并认为它们可以重塑我们对超大质量黑洞如何在宇宙最初的10亿年中形成和成长的认识。
缅因州沃特维尔科尔比学院的戴尔(Dale Kocevski)表示,研究人员早就知道早期宇宙中一定存在质量较低的黑洞,韦伯是第一个能够如此清晰地捕捉到它们的望远镜。
精听党每日美句
Life is a sail trip full of chances and challenges.
人生是一次充满机遇和挑战的航行。
原文链接:https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/16/world/webb-supermassive-black-holes-scn
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