文字稿
科學傢們認為他們即將獲得黑洞的第一張照片。他們建立瞭一個地球大小的“虛擬望遠鏡”，通過連接大量的無線電接收器收集關於銀河系中心的巨大黑洞的信息。這些接收器分佈在世界各地，以南極為起點，遠到夏威夷，美洲和歐洲。科學傢們盼望這次將在四月進行的觀測活動能夠實現人類看見黑洞的夢想。請聽 Jonathan Amos 的報道。
Black holes are supposedly black because their immense gravity prevents light escaping their grasp. All true, but the edge of the a black hole ought to shine very brightly, as it tears apart any stars, gas and dust unlucky enough to get too close.
Our Milky Way galaxy central black hole is about four million times the mass of the Sun. But its precipitous edge is not a lot wider, and given that the hole is thousands of light years away, you need a really special telescope to see it and now it exists.
The Event Horizon Telescope is a network of widely spaced radio antennas whose data when combined, mimics the resolving power of a single telescope the size of the Earth. Its first big test is in April. If Einstein is right, it should see a bright ring of light circling a dark shadow.
This is not a quick snap, colossal volumes of data will be acquired in the April’s observing run, and it’s likely to take super computers many months to assemble an image.
詞匯表
immense 巨大的
tears apart 分裂，分開
mass （物理）質量
precipitous edge 陡峭的邊際
radio antennas 無線電天線
mimics 模仿，摹擬
quick snap 快照
colossal 龐大的
acquired 獲得，被收集到
assemble 組合，湊成
測驗
請聽報道並回答下列問題。
1. Why are black holes called black holes?
2. How big is the Milky Way’s central black hole?
3. True or false? The Event Horizon Telescope is made up of one physical telescope.
4. Which word in the text means ‘the act of holding onto something’?
答案
1. Why are black holes called black holes?
Because black holes’ immense gravity prevents light escaping from them, so they look black.
2. How big is the Milky Way’s central black hole?
It’s about four million times the mass of our sun.
3. True or false? The Event Horizon Telescope is made up of one physical telescope.
False. The Event Horizon Telescope is made up of a network of radio antennas.
4. Which word in the text means ‘the act of holding onto something’?
Grasp.
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