A newly discovered object may be a key to unlocking the true nature of a mysterious class of sources that astronomers have found in the early universe in recent years.
一个新发现的物体可能是解开天文学家近年来在早期宇宙中发现的一类神秘来源的真实性质的关键。
A “X-ray dot” found by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory could explain what the hundreds or potentially thousands of these objects are. A paper describing the results published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
美国宇航局钱德拉 X 射线天文台发现的一个“X 射线点”可以解释数百甚至数千个这些物体的含义。一篇描述发表在《天体物理学杂志快报》上的结果的论文。
Shortly after NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope started its science observations, reports of a new class of mysterious objects emerged. Astronomers found small, red objects about 12 billion light-years from Earth or farther, which became known as “little red dots” (LRDs).
美国宇航局詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜开始科学观测后不久，出现了一类新神秘物体的报告。天文学家在距地球约 120 亿光年或更远的地方发现了小型红色物体，这些物体被称为“小红点”(LRD)。
Many scientists think LRDs are supermassive black holes embedded in clouds of dense gas, which mask some of the typical signatures in different kinds of light – including X-rays – that astronomers usually use to identify them. This would make them different from typical growing supermassive black holes, which are not embedded in dense gas, allowing bright ultraviolet light and X-rays from material orbiting the black holes to escape.
许多科学家认为LRD是嵌入在致密气体云中的超大质量黑洞，它掩盖了天文学家通常用来识别它们的不同种类光（包括X射线）中的一些典型特征。这将使它们与典型的正在生长的超大质量黑洞不同，后者没有嵌入致密的气体中，允许来自围绕黑洞运行的物质的明亮的紫外线和X射线逸出。
Because of this and their potential similarities to stellar atmospheres, astronomers have called this the “black hole star” scenario for LRDs.
由于这一点以及它们与恒星大气的潜在相似性，天文学家将其称为 LRD 的“黑洞星”场景。
This new “X-ray dot” (officially known as 3DHST-AEGIS-12014), which is located about 11.8 billion light-years from Earth, may provide a crucial bridge between black hole stars and typical growing supermassive black holes. It exhibits most of the features of an LRD, including being small, red, and located at a vast distance, but it glows in X-ray light, unlike other LRDs.
这个新的“X射线点”（正式名称为3DHST-AEGIS-12014）距离地球约118亿光年，可能会在黑洞恒星和典型生长的超大质量黑洞之间架起一座重要的桥梁。它展现了 LRD 的大部分特征，包括体积小、呈红色、距离较远，但与其他 LRD 不同，它在 X 射线下发光。
“Astronomers have been trying to figure out what little red dots are for several years,” said lead author Raphael Hviding of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany. “This single X-ray object may be – to use a phrase – what lets us connect all of the dots.”
“多年来，天文学家一直试图弄清楚小红点是什么，”德国马克斯·普朗克天文学研究所的主要作者拉斐尔·维丁说。 “用一句话来说，这个单一的 X 射线物体可能是让我们连接所有点的东西。”
The team found this one special object after comparing new data from Webb with a deep survey previously performed by Chandra.
研究小组在将韦伯的新数据与钱德拉之前进行的深入调查进行比较后发现了这个特殊的物体。
“If little red dots are rapidly growing supermassive black holes, why do they not give off X-rays like other such black holes?” said co-author Anna de Graaff of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “Finding a little red dot that looks different from the others gives us important new insight into what could power them.”
“如果小红点是快速生长的超大质量黑洞，为什么它们不像其他此类黑洞那样发出 X 射线？”天体物理中心的合著者安娜·德格拉夫说哈佛大学和史密森尼学会，位于马萨诸塞州剑桥。 “找到一个看起来与其他红点不同的小红点让我们对它们的动力有了重要的新见解。”
The researchers suggest that the X-ray dot represents a transition phase from an LRD to a typical growing supermassive black hole. As the black hole star consumes its surrounding gas, patchy holes in the clouds of gas appear. This allows X-rays from material falling onto the black hole to poke through, which are observed by Chandra. Eventually all the gas is consumed, and the black hole star ceases to exist.
研究人员认为，X 射线点代表了从 LRD 到典型生长的超大质量黑洞的过渡阶段。当黑洞恒星消耗周围的气体时，气体云中就会出现斑驳的洞。这使得落入黑洞的物质发出的 X 射线能够穿透黑洞，钱德拉观测到了这一点。最终所有的气体都被消耗掉，黑洞恒星不复存在。
There are also hints in the Chandra data of the X-ray dot that there are variations in X-ray brightness, which supports the idea that the black hole is partly obscured. As the cloud of gas rotates, patches of denser and less dense gas can move across the black hole, causing changes in X-ray brightness.
X射线点的钱德拉数据也暗示X射线亮度存在变化，这支持了黑洞被部分遮挡的观点。当气体云旋转时，密度较大和密度较低的气体斑块可以穿过黑洞，导致 X 射线亮度发生变化。
“If we confirm the X-ray dot as a little red dot in transition, not only would it be the first of its kind, but we may be seeing into the heart of a little red dot for the first time,” said co-author Hanpu Liu of Princeton University in New Jersey. “We would also have the strongest piece of evidence yet that the growth of supermassive black holes is at the center of some, if not all, of the little red dot population.”
新泽西州普林斯顿大学的合著者 Hanpu Liu 表示：“如果我们确认 X 射线点是一个过渡中的小红点，那么它不仅是同类中的第一个，而且我们可能第一次看到小红点的核心。” “我们还将获得迄今为止最有力的证据，证明超大质量黑洞的增长是部分（如果不是全部）小红点种群的中心。”
An alternate idea for the X-ray dot is that it is a more common type of growing supermassive black hole but is veiled in an exotic type of dust that astronomers have not seen before. Future observations are planned that should be able to shed light on the truth.
X射线点的另一种想法是，它是一种更常见的正在生长的超大质量黑洞，但被一种天文学家以前从未见过的奇异尘埃所掩盖。计划未来的观察应该能够揭示真相。
“The X-ray dot had been sitting in our Chandra survey data for over ten years, but we had no idea how remarkable it was before Webb came along to observe the field,” said co-author Andy Goulding of Princeton. “This is a powerful example of collaboration between two great observatories.”
普林斯顿大学的合著者安迪·古尔丁说：“X射线点在我们的钱德拉调查数据中已经存在了十多年，但在韦伯来观察这个领域之前，我们并不知道它有多么引人注目。” “这是两个伟大的天文台之间合作的有力例子。”
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
美国宇航局马歇尔太空飞行中心负责管理钱德拉计划。史密森天体物理观测站的钱德拉 X 射线中心控制着马萨诸塞州剑桥的科学业务和马萨诸塞州伯灵顿的飞行业务。
Learn more about the Chandra X-ray Observatory and its mission here:
在此了解有关钱德拉 X 射线天文台及其使命的更多信息：
Megan Watzke Chandra X-ray Center Cambridge, Mass. 617-496-7998 mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu
Megan Watzke Chandra X 射线中心，马萨诸塞州剑桥。 617-496-7998 mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu
Joel Wallace Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama 256-544-0034 joel.w.wallace@nasa.gov
乔尔·华莱士·马歇尔太空飞行中心，阿拉巴马州亨茨维尔 256-544-0034 joel.w.wallace@nasa.gov