Jedidah Isler: How I fell in love with quasars, blazars and our incredible universe

翻译人员: Lidong Zhuo 校对人员: Anne Lin

My first love was for the night sky.

我的初恋给了夜空。

Love is complicated.

我对它爱很复杂。

You're looking at a fly-through of the Hubble Space Telescope Ultra-Deep Field,

你们现在看到的是一个哈勃望远镜超深空图像，

one of the most distant images of our universe ever observed.

这是目前我们能观测到的最遥远的宇宙图像之一。

Everything you see here is a galaxy,

你们现在所看到的一切都是星系，

comprised of billions of stars each.

每个都由几十亿颗星球组成。

And the farthest galaxy is a trillion, trillion kilometers away.

最远的星系距离我们有10的24次方公里。

As an astrophysicist, I have the awesome privilege of studying

作为一个天体物理学家，我很荣幸能研究

some of the most exotic objects in our universe.

一些宇宙中最吸引人的东西。

The objects that have captivated me from first crush throughout my career

那让我在职业生涯中始终迷恋的

are supermassive, hyperactive black holes.

就是超大质量的活跃的黑洞。

Weighing one to 10 billion times the mass of our own sun,

这些比太阳重1-100亿倍星级黑洞，

these galactic black holes are devouring material,

正吞噬着物质，

at a rate of upwards of 1,000 times more

以超过“平均”超大质量黑洞

than your "average" supermassive black hole.

1000倍的速度。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

These two characteristics,

这两个特质，

with a few others, make them quasars.

与一些其他的特点一起，使他们成为了类星体。

At the same time, the objects I study

与此同时，我研究的天体

are producing some of the most powerful particle streams

释放着一些从未检测到的

ever observed.

最强粒子流。

These narrow streams, called jets,

这些细小的粒子流被称为喷射流，

are moving at 99.99 percent of the speed of light,

以光速99.99%移动着

and are pointed directly at the Earth.

而且直冲地球。

These jetted, Earth-pointed, hyperactive and supermassive black holes

这些高速，直冲地球，活跃且超重的黑洞

are called blazars, or blazing quasars.

被称为耀变体，或者闪耀的类星体。

What makes blazars so special is that they're some of the universe's

耀变体如此特殊是因为他们是宇宙中

most efficient particle accelerators,

一些最有效的粒子加速器，

transporting incredible amounts of energy throughout a galaxy.

将不可思议的能量传送到星系中。

Here, I'm showing an artist's conception of a blazar.

现在，我正展示的是一个艺术家对于耀变体的设想图。

The dinner plate by which material falls onto the black hole

物质掉入黑洞时所经过的餐盘

is called the accretion disc,

被叫做吸积盘，

shown here in blue.

也就是蓝色的部分。

Some of that material is slingshotted around the black hole

有些物质被弹射到黑洞周围

and accelerated to insanely high speeds

然后在喷射流中加速到异常高的速度

in the jet, shown here in white.

也就是白色的部分。

Although the blazar system is rare,

虽然耀变体系统很少见，

the process by which nature pulls in material via a disk,

但是通过吸盘自然的吸收物质的过程

and then flings some of it out via a jet, is more common.

然后通过喷射流放出，是很常见的。

We'll eventually zoom out of the blazar system

我们最后将缩小耀变体系统

to show its approximate relationship to the larger galactic context.

来展示它与更大的星系的近似关系。

Beyond the cosmic accounting of what goes in to what goes out,

除了对宇宙中进出的物质的计算外，

one of the hot topics in blazar astrophysics right now

目前在耀变体天体物理学中的一个热点话题是

is where the highest-energy jet emission comes from.

那些高能的喷射流来自哪里。

In this image, I'm interested in where this white blob forms

在这张图中，我感兴趣的是这些白色物质来自哪里

and if, as a result, there's any relationship between the jet

还有，是否最终这些喷射流与吸积盘

and the accretion disc material.

之间有任何的联系呢。

Clear answers to this question

对于这个问题的清晰的回答

were almost completely inaccessible until 2008,

在2008年以前几乎是没有的，

when NASA launched a new telescope that better detects gamma ray light --

直到美国宇航局发射了一个能够更好的探测伽玛射线的新望远镜

that is, light with energies a million times higher

这种射线相比X射线，

than your standard x-ray scan.

有比其高一百万倍的能量。

I simultaneously compare variations between the gamma ray light data

同时，我年复一年日复一日的比较

and the visible light data from day to day and year to year,

伽玛射线的数据和其他可见光的数据的变化，

to better localize these gamma ray blobs.

来更好的定位伽玛射线圈。

My research shows that in some instances,

我的研究表明有些时候，

these blobs form much closer to the black hole

这些射线圈比我们预想的

than we initially thought.

要距离黑洞更近。

As we more confidently localize

当我们越发确定

where these gamma ray blobs are forming,

伽玛射线圈形成的地方，

we can better understand how jets are being accelerated,

我们就能更好的理解喷射流被加速过程，

and ultimately reveal the dynamic processes

最终揭示

by which some of the most fascinating objects in our universe are formed.

宇宙中一些迷人的天体的动态形成过程。

This all started as a love story.

这是一个爱情故事开始的。

And it still is.

并且一直是。

This love transformed me from a curious, stargazing young girl

这个爱把我从一个好奇的，仰望星空的小女孩

to a professional astrophysicist,

转变成一个天体物理学家专家，

hot on the heels of celestial discovery.

热衷于发现天体。

Who knew that chasing after the universe

谁知道追随着宇宙

would ground me so deeply to my mission here on Earth.

会让我深深地投入到我在地球上的工作中。

Then again, when do we ever know where love's first flutter

还有，我们什么时候会知道

will truly take us.

我们的爱好最终会将我们引向何方。

Thank you.

谢谢大家。

(Applause)

（掌声）