VOA科学技术2023--NASA: Scientists Discover Oldest Black Hole Yet

NASA: Scientists Discover Oldest Black Hole Yet

Scientists have discovered the oldest black hole yet.

The huge object formed about 470 million years after the Big Bang, researchers said.

The study was published recently in Nature Astronomy. The researchers said the findings confirm their theory: Supermassive black holes existed in the very early universe. The United States space agency, NASA, used its James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-Ray Observatory¹ over the past year to make the observations.

If the universe is 13.7 billion years old, the age of this black hole would be 13.2 billion years.

The scientists said that this oldest black hole is extremely massive — 10 times bigger than the black hole in our own Milky² Way galaxy³.

It is believed to weigh anywhere from 10 percent to 100 percent the mass of all the stars in its galaxy, said the study's lead writer Akos Bogdan of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. That is far larger than all the black holes in our Milky Way and its closer galactic neighbors, he noted⁴. Their mass on average is only about one-tenth of a percent of that of the stars in their galaxies⁵.

"It's just really early on in the universe to be such a behemoth," said Yale University's Priyamvada Natarajan, a study team member. The Astrophysical Journal Letters published a report linked to the study.

"It's astounding⁶ how this thing actually is sitting in place already with its galaxy so early on in the universe," Natarajan said.

The researchers believe the black holes formed from huge clouds of gas that collapsed⁷ in a galaxy next to another with stars. The two galaxies joined, and the black hole was in control.

The Chandra telescope found the object with X-ray imaging. That fact confirms "without a doubt that it is a black hole," Natarajan said. With X-rays "you're actually capturing the gas that is being gravitationally pulled into the black hole, sped up and it starts glowing in the X-rays," she said.

Natarajan also said this black hole is considered a quasar since it is actively⁸ growing, and the gas is extremely bright.

In addition to the latest find, scientists said the Webb telescope might have found a black hole that is 29 million years older. However, that object still needs to be observed in X-rays to be confirmed. Natarajan expects more early black holes will be found — perhaps not as far away, but still very distant.

"We are expecting a new window to open in the universe, and I think this is the first crack," she said.

The two space telescopes — Webb and Chandra — were able to observe the part of space that holds this galaxy, UHZ1, and its black hole because of what is called "gravitational lensing." The gravity of a galaxy much closer to Earth magnified the apparent image of UHZ1 and its black hole, which are further in the background.

"It's a pretty faint object, and thanks to...luck, nature has magnified it for us," Natarajan said.

NASA launched the Webb telescope in 2021 to a point 1.6 million kilometers away from Earth. It is the biggest and most powerful observatory ever sent into space. Webb captures images of the universe in infrared⁹ light. The much older Chandra records X-ray radiation. It was sent into orbit in 1999.

"I absolutely find it amazing that Chandra can do such amazing discoveries 24 years after its launch," Bogdan said.

Words in This Story

behemoth –n. something very big and powerful

astounding –adj. causing a feeling of surprise and wonderment

glowing –adj. shining with a steady, warm light

quasar –n. a powerful source of radio waves that is very distant

crack –n. a long thin break in something

magnify –v. the property of making something look closer than it actually is

faint –adj. not bright; hard to see

amazing –adj. wonderful; very interesting

1 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

2 milky   

adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的

参考例句：

• Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
• I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。

3 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 galaxies   

星系( galaxy的名词复数 )； 银河系； 一群（杰出或著名的人物）

参考例句：

• Quasars are the highly energetic cores of distant galaxies. 类星体是遥远星系的极为活跃的核心体。
• We still don't know how many galaxies there are in the universe. 我们还不知道宇宙中有多少个星系。

6 astounding   

adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词)

参考例句：

• There was an astounding 20% increase in sales. 销售量惊人地增加了20%。
• The Chairman's remarks were so astounding that the audience listened to him with bated breath. 主席说的话令人吃惊，所以听众都屏息听他说。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

8 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

9 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。