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During the blast of a supernova, the inner core of a star collapses into a single point.
在“超新星”爆炸過程中，恒星的內(nèi)核會塌陷成一個小點(diǎn)。
Smaller than a pinhead.
比針頭還小的點(diǎn)。
Astronomers call this single point, a "singularity".
天文學(xué)家將這個小點(diǎn)稱做“獨(dú)點(diǎn)”。
A singularity is an object with no length, width or height.
“獨(dú)點(diǎn)”是個沒有長、寬、高的物體。
Yet it retains most of the gravity of the original star.
但是它保留了原來恒星的大部分重力。
One of the primary goals for Hubble was to prove once and for all whether or not black holes exist.
發(fā)射哈勃的主要目標(biāo)之一就是斷然的證明黑洞是否存在。
But how does one search for an invisible point?
但是如何找尋一個看不見的點(diǎn)呢？
Astronomers decide to direct Hubble to examine the exact centers of galaxies.
天文學(xué)家決定把哈勃對準(zhǔn)星系的中心進(jìn)行觀測，
It is a wise decision.
這是個明智的決定。
What they discover is that the stars close to the center of galaxies zoom around at very high speed.
發(fā)現(xiàn)的結(jié)果是：靠近星系的中心的恒星都在圍繞著進(jìn)行高速旋轉(zhuǎn)。
This is not how stars normally behave.
這不是恒星正常的狀態(tài)。
Most stars move along at relatively slow speeds.
大多數(shù)恒星都以相對較慢的速度運(yùn)動。
But down in the central hub of galaxies stars are being thrown around by the gravity of something that is massive, yet ultra compact.
但是在星系的中央，恒星被拋來拋去的，這肯定是因?yàn)橛匈|(zhì)量超大而且體積超小的東西存在。
There can only be one cause for this effect.
只能有一個理由來解釋這種現(xiàn)象：
The fabled black hole.
傳說中的黑洞。
Further evidence of black holes comes from Hubble's images of a mysterious jet some 5,000 light-years long.
更多關(guān)于黑洞的證據(jù)來自于哈勃拍攝的神秘的、5000光年長的噴射柱。
The jet is piercing the heart of a giant elliptical galaxy called M-87.
這個噴射柱穿過了一個叫做M-87的橢圓星系的中心。
The jet in the galaxy M87 is caused by enormous amounts of gas and dust piling onto the black hole.
在星系M87中的這個噴射柱是由堆積在黑洞上的巨量氣體和塵埃構(gòu)成。
There's so much material that a traffic jam occurs.
物質(zhì)太多，都發(fā)生擁堵了。
The gas and dust back up, forming a disc.
氣體和塵埃退了回去，形成了一個碟形。
Some of this material escapes and creates the jet.
一些物質(zhì)逃逸了出去，并形成了噴射柱。
The black hole is showing itself with a parade of light.
黑洞以光的形式展示了自己的存在。
