第一次在另一個星系發(fā)現(xiàn)了氧氣

第一次在另一個星系發(fā)現(xiàn)了氧氣

Oxygen has been detected outside our home galaxy the Milky Way for the first time ever.

人類首次在銀河系外發(fā)現(xiàn)了氧氣。

Molecules of oxygen have been tracked to a strange and distant galaxy millions of light-years away.

氧氣分子已經(jīng)被追蹤到數(shù)百萬光年之外的一個陌生而遙遠的星系。

The oxygen was uncovered in Markarian 231, which is powered by an “extremely bright” nucleus.

這種氧氣是在Markarian 231中被發(fā)現(xiàn)的，它是由一個“極其明亮”的原子核提供能量的。

Markarian 231 is a wild and highly volatile galaxy that we still know very little about.

Markarian 231是一個我們?nèi)匀恢跎俚目褚扒腋叨炔环€(wěn)定的星系。

But the mystery galaxy now appears to support the existence of oxygen – boosting our understanding of the distant universe.

但是這個神秘的星系現(xiàn)在似乎支持氧氣的存在——這促進了我們對遙遠宇宙的了解。

“With deep observations towards Markarian 231…we detected [oxygen] emission in [an] external galaxy for the first time,” researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences wrote.

中國科學(xué)院的研究人員寫道:“通過對Markarian 231的深度觀測……我們首次探測到外部星系的(氧)發(fā)射。”

“The detected [oxygen] emission is located in regions about 32,615 light-years away from the center of Markarian 231. And [it] may be caused by the interaction between the active galactic nucleus-driven molecular outflow and the outer disc molecular clouds.”

“探測到的(氧氣)發(fā)射位于距離馬卡里恩231星系中心大約32,615光年的地方。它可能是由活躍的星系核驅(qū)動的分子外流和外盤分子云之間的相互作用造成的。”

The galaxy in question is 561 million light-years away from Earth.

該星系距離地球5.61億光年。

Markarian 231 is a particularly active galaxy, forming new stars at a rate of over 100 masses per year.

Markarian 231是一個特別活躍的星系，它以每年超過100個質(zhì)量的速度形成新的恒星。

It’s powered by a central quasar – an extremely bright “galactic nucleus.”

它由一個中央類星體提供動力——一個極其明亮的“星系核”。

That’s when a supermassive black hole with mass ranging from millions to billions of times the mass of the sun is surrounded by a gas disc. This type of galactic center produces outflows of matter.

當一個質(zhì)量是太陽質(zhì)量數(shù)百萬到數(shù)十億倍的超大質(zhì)量黑洞被一個氣體盤包圍時。這種星系中心會產(chǎn)生物質(zhì)外流。

And the researchers went on the hunt for oxygen within these outflows.

研究人員繼續(xù)在這些流出物中尋找氧氣。

They used the IRAM 30-metre radio telescope in Spain to observe the galaxy over four days.

他們用西班牙的IRAM 30米射電望遠鏡觀察了四天的銀河系。

Oxygen has previously been found in the Orion nebula, within our home galaxy.

在我們的銀河系中，獵戶座星云已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了氧氣。

But scientists found that Markarian 231’s oxygen abundance (compared to hydrogen) is 100 times higher than in the Orion galaxy.

但科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)，Markarian 231的氧豐度(與氫相比)是獵戶座星系的100倍。

Now other teams of scientists will work to verify the results as proof of oxygen.

現(xiàn)在，其他科學(xué)家團隊將努力驗證這一結(jié)果，作為氧氣存在的證據(jù)。

If confirmed, we can learn much more about how galaxies like Markarian 231 work.

如果得到證實，我們可以更多地了解像Markarian 231這樣的星系是如何工作的。

Does the discovery of oxygen mean we’ve found evidence of alien life? Not by a long shot.

氧氣的發(fā)現(xiàn)是否意味著我們發(fā)現(xiàn)了外星生命的證據(jù)?一點也不。

We know that oxygen is essential to life on Earth, but it isn’t proof that life exists.

我們知道氧氣對地球上的生命是必不可少的，但這并不是生命存在的證據(jù)。

And it’s possible that alien lifeforms might not even require oxygen to live.

有可能外星生命甚至不需要氧氣來生存。

However, it’s still a positive sign that other parts of our universe could potentially support life like our own.

然而，這仍然是一個積極的信號，我們宇宙的其他部分可能支持像我們這樣的生命。

Sadly for alien hunters, this is far from proof of life on other worlds.

可悲的是，對于外星獵人來說，這遠不是其他星球上有生命的證據(jù)。

The research was published in The Astrophysical Journal.

這項研究發(fā)表在《天體物理學(xué)雜志》上。