In new images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to celebrate its fourth science anniversary, a familiar galaxy transforms into something far richer, and far more complex, than ever seen before. Webb’s unprecedented sensitivity across near- and mid-infrared wavelengths cuts through the thick lanes of dust that obscure Centaurus A’s center in visible light, showing a densely packed tapestry of individual stars and an active, everchanging galaxy. These images mark four years of better-than-anticipated performance and successful science operations for the most powerful space telescope in history.
在美国宇航局詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜庆祝科学四周年纪念日发布的新图像中，一个熟悉的星系转变成比以往任何时候都更丰富、更复杂的东西。韦伯对近红外和中红外波长前所未有的敏感度，穿透了在可见光下遮挡半人马座 A 中心的厚厚尘埃带，显示出由单个恒星组成的密集织锦和一个活跃、不断变化的星系。这些图像标志着四年来历史上最强大的太空望远镜的性能好于预期并成功进行了科学操作。
Centaurus A is 11 million light-years away from Earth, relatively close in cosmic terms. Yet, unlike most nearby galaxies, it is very active, making it a powerful laboratory for understanding how galaxies and black holes grow and evolve together.
半人马座 A 距地球 1100 万光年，从宇宙角度来看相对较近。然而，与大多数附近的星系不同，它非常活跃，使其成为了解星系和黑洞如何一起生长和演化的强大实验室。
At its core sits a supermassive black hole actively feeding on surrounding material. As it does, the black hole launches powerful jets and releases enormous amounts of energy, shaping the galaxy around it. At the same time, Centaurus A bears the scars of a dramatic past: a major collision with another galaxy roughly two billion years ago. The aftermath of that merger is still visible today in its unusual structure and ongoing star formation.
它的核心是一个超大质量黑洞，它积极地吞噬周围的物质。与此同时，黑洞会发射强大的喷流并释放出大量的能量，塑造其周围的星系。与此同时，半人马座 A 也留下了戏剧性过去的伤痕：大约 20 亿年前与另一个星系的一次重大碰撞。那次合并的后果至今仍然可见，其不寻常的结构和正在进行的恒星形成。
Visible light observations from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope could not reveal the central region where dust blocked the view, while NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope revealed large scale structures in the infrared without resolving individual stars. Now, Webb brings both clarity and depth, exposing the galaxy’s inner workings star by star.
美国宇航局哈勃太空望远镜的可见光观测无法揭示灰尘遮挡视野的中心区域，而美国宇航局退役的斯皮策太空望远镜则在无法分辨单个恒星的情况下揭示了红外中的大规模结构。现在，韦伯带来了清晰度和深度，逐颗恒星地揭示了银河系的内部运作方式。
“No single telescope tells the whole story,” said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, division director, Astrophysics, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Discoveries build over time and new observatories expand on the foundations laid by earlier missions. Webb represents the most powerful step forward yet, opening a window into wavelengths and details never before accessible. This allows astronomers to examine structures and processes that other telescopes could not see.”
“没有任何一台望远镜能够讲述全部故事，”美国宇航局华盛顿总部天体物理学部门主任肖恩·多马加尔-戈德曼 (Shawn Domagal-Goldman) 说。 “随着时间的推移，发现不断增加，新的天文台在早期任务奠定的基础上不断扩展。韦伯代表了迄今为止最有力的一步，为前所未有的波长和细节打开了一扇窗户。这使得天文学家能够检查其他望远镜无法看到的结构和过程。”
Webb’s mid-infrared vision highlights the galaxy’s rich dust structures, which glow in intricate shapes that surprise and even perplex astronomers. A warped, parallelogram-like band cuts across the galaxy’s center, while wisps of material stretch outward like cosmic clouds.
韦伯的中红外视觉突出了银河系丰富的尘埃结构，这些尘埃结构以复杂的形状发光，让天文学家感到惊讶甚至困惑。一条扭曲的平行四边形带横穿银河系中心，而一缕缕物质像宇宙云一样向外伸展。
An “S” shaped feature, most notable in the image from Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), is also unusual and invites questions that need further study to answer. What created this shape? How does the black hole influence it? Is it influenced by merger-induced star formation?
韦伯 MIRI（中红外仪器）图像中最显着的“S”形特征也是不寻常的，并引发了需要进一步研究才能回答的问题。是什么创造了这个形状？黑洞是如何影响它的？它是否受到合并引起的恒星形成的影响？
Many of the glowing red points in the MIRI image are dust-rich stars or stellar nurseries, where aging stars are shedding material back into space or new stars are forming. This dust is the raw ingredient for future generations of stars and planets, making it central to the ongoing life cycle of the galaxy.
MIRI 图像中的许多发光红点是富含尘埃的恒星或恒星托儿所，其中老化的恒星正在将物质释放回太空，或者新的恒星正在形成。这些尘埃是未来几代恒星和行星的原材料，使其成为银河系持续生命周期的核心。
With Webb’s high resolution, astronomers can now study Centaurus A star by star, even in its long-obscured central region. What looks “grainy” in the image from Webb, most obvious in the combined MIRI and NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) view, is actually a densely packed field of individual stars, together carrying information about the galaxy’s past.
凭借韦伯的高分辨率，天文学家现在可以逐颗恒星地研究半人马座 A，即使是在其长期被遮挡的中心区域。韦伯的图像中看起来“颗粒状”的东西，在 MIRI 和 NIRCam（近红外相机）的组合视图中最为明显，实际上是一个密集的单个恒星场，它们一起携带着有关星系过去的信息。
With Webb’s view of Centaurus A, it becomes a case of galactic archaeology. Each star revealed helps to reconstruct when different events happened: when older stars first formed, when activity slowed down, a burst of star formation during the collision, and stars born from gas stirred in its aftermath. Together, they form a timeline of the galaxy’s evolution.
根据韦伯对半人马座 A 的看法，它成为银河考古学的一个案例。每颗恒星的揭示都有助于重建不同事件发生的时间：当较老的恒星首次形成时，当活动减慢时，碰撞期间恒星形成的爆发，以及气体产生的恒星在碰撞后搅拌。它们共同构成了银河系演化的时间线。
Webb’s capabilities go beyond imaging. By analyzing light with spectroscopy , astronomers can measure how gas moves within the galaxy.
韦伯的能力超越了成像。通过用光谱分析光，天文学家可以测量气体在星系内的运动方式。
Early findings from Webb show fast-moving ionized gas flowing outward, likely driven by the black hole’s activity, and warmer molecular hydrogen in a warped rotating disk near the center. These observations help explore one of astronomy’s biggest questions: How does a black hole influence an entire galaxy?
韦伯的早期发现表明，快速移动的电离气体向外流动，可能是由黑洞的活动驱动的，而中心附近扭曲的旋转盘中的氢分子温度更高。这些观测结果有助于探索天文学最大的问题之一：黑洞如何影响整个星系？
The answer appears to be complex. The black hole can trigger star formation by compressing gas, but also limit it by pushing material away. Centaurus A offers a rare, nearby view of this cosmic interplay.
答案似乎很复杂。黑洞可以通过压缩气体触发恒星形成，但也可以通过推开物质来限制恒星形成。半人马座 A 提供了这种宇宙相互作用的罕见近景。
By tracing dust in never-before-seen detail, resolving millions of stars, and revealing the motion of gas near a supermassive black hole, Webb transforms Centaurus A into a vivid record of cosmic history.
通过以前所未见的细节追踪尘埃，解析数百万颗恒星，并揭示超大质量黑洞附近气体的运动，韦伯将半人马座 A 变成了宇宙历史的生动记录。
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜是世界上首屈一指的太空科学天文台。韦伯正在解开太阳系中的谜团，展望其他恒星周围的遥远世界，并探索宇宙的神秘结构和起源以及我们在其中的位置。韦伯是由 NASA 及其合作伙伴 ESA（欧洲航天局）和 CSA（加拿大航天局）领导的一项国际计划。
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Infographic : Dissecting Supermassive Black Holes
信息图：剖析超大质量黑洞
Watch : Galaxy collisions: Simulation vs Observations
观看：星系碰撞：模拟与观测
More Webb: News | Images | Science | Home Page
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