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Scientists say they have found the largest jets of energy ever observed shooting out of a black hole in a distant galaxy.
科学家们表示，他们已经发现了从遥远星系的黑洞中喷出的最大能量喷流。
The jets extend 23 million light years from end to end.
这些喷流从一端延伸到另一端，绵延2300万光年。
That is about 140 times the width of our Milky Way Galaxy.
这大约是银河系宽度的140倍。
The galaxy responsible is estimated to be 7.5 billion light years from Earth.
据估计，这些喷流的源头星系距离地球75亿光年。
The scientists observed the structures using the Low-Frequency Array, or LOFAR, radio telescope network centered in the Netherlands.
科学家们使用以荷兰为中心的低频阵列(LOFAR)射电望远镜网络观察了这些结构。
Violent, highly energetic events around a black hole in the galaxy are the cause of the jets.
银河系中一个黑洞周围的暴力、高能量事件导致了喷流。
A black hole is often the remains of a super-massive star that collapses.
黑洞通常是超大质量恒星坍塌后的残骸。
It is so massive that even light cannot escape its powerful gravity.
它的质量如此之大，甚至连光都无法逃脱其强大的引力。
Researchers have named the energy jets Porphyrion after a giant in ancient Greek mythology.
研究人员以古希腊神话中的一位巨人的名字命名了能量喷气式飞机。
Porphyrion is 30 percent longer than any other known energy jet.
Porphyrion比任何已知的能源喷气式飞机还要长30%。
Martijn Oei of Caltech is an astrophysicist and lead writer of the study published in Nature.
加州理工学院的Martjn Oei是一位天体物理学家，也是发表在《自然》杂志上的这项研究的主要作者。
Oei said, “Jet systems like Porphyrion appear to be among the most energetic spectacles that have occurred in the universe since the Big Bang.”
Oei说：“像Porphyrion这样的喷气系统似乎是宇宙中自大爆炸以来发生的最具能量的奇观之一。”
The Big Bang is the event that scientists say marked the beginning of the universe.
大爆炸是科学家们所说的标志着宇宙开始的事件。
Astrophysicist Martin Hardcastle of the University of Hertfordshire in English was also a writer of the study.
赫特福德郡大学的天体物理学家马丁·哈德卡斯尔也是这项研究的作者。
He explained how scientists believe the jets formed.
他解释了科学家们认为这些喷流是如何形成的。
“The general understanding is that jets are formed when magnetized material falls onto a rotating black hole,” he said.
他说：“一般的理解是，当磁化的物质落到旋转的黑洞上时，就会形成喷流。”
He said the jets “need to be sustained by a continued infall of matter into the black hole, something on the order of one solar mass (the mass of the sun) a year of material.”
他说，这些喷流“需要持续的物质流入黑洞才能维持，大约一年需要流入一个太阳质量(太阳的质量)。”
However, although they are huge, the jets cannot be seen in visible light.
然而，尽管它们很大，但在可见光下看不到喷气式飞机。
Scientists used radio telescopes to find them.
科学家们用射电望远镜找到了它们。
They start small and grow over time, the scientists say.
科学家们说，它们开始时很小，随着时间的推移而增长。
“We’ve known for a while that black holes can generate these jets.
“我们已经知道黑洞可以产生这些喷流了。
But what is interesting is that to generate a large structure like this, the jets must stay on for a long time — about a billion years,” Hardcastle said.
但有趣的是，要产生这样一个巨大的结构，喷气式飞机必须保持很长一段时间-大约10亿年，”哈德卡斯尔说。
The Porphyrion jets reach far beyond their home galaxy.
Porphyrion喷气式飞机远远超出了它们所在的银河系。
Their total output of energy is equal to trillions of stars like the sun.
它们的总能量输出相当于像太阳这样的数万亿颗恒星。
Oei said that amount of energy is similar to when two clusters of galaxies crash into one another, each containing thousands of galaxies.
Oei说，能量的大小类似于两个星系团相互碰撞时的能量，每个星系团包含数千个星系。
Hardcastle said the discovery could increase knowledge of magnetic fields in the universe.
哈德卡斯尔说，这一发现可能会增加人们对宇宙磁场的了解。
He said: “The fact that it extends so far from its parent black hole means that it may be carrying energy, particles and magnetic fields into the voids in the cosmic web…”
他说：“它从母黑洞向外延伸如此之远的事实意味着，它可能正在将能量、粒子和磁场带入宇宙网中的空洞…”
Such jets also could heat up gas in interstellar space, suppressing the formation of new stars or could damage planets that could hold life, the researchers said.
研究人员说，这种喷流还可能加热星际空间的气体，抑制新恒星的形成，或者可能破坏可能存在生命的行星。
Scientists say our Milky Way Galaxy has a black hole at its center, but it does not have a jet, and it is not active.
科学家说，我们的银河系中心有一个黑洞，但它没有喷流，也不活跃。
However, the researchers noted that the most important finding of the study might be that black holes can create some of the largest structures in the universe.
然而，研究人员指出，这项研究最重要的发现可能是黑洞可以创造出宇宙中一些最大的结构。
“This means that individual black holes can have a sphere of influence that extends way beyond the galaxy in which they reside,” Oei added.
“这意味着单个黑洞的影响范围可以远远超出它们所在的星系，”Oei补充道。
I’m Mario Ritter, Jr.
我是小马里奥 · 里特。
