Astronomers have used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to break down the cause of a remarkable formation of radio waves they have nicknamed the “Treble Clef” because its distinct shape strongly resembles the musical symbol.
天文学家利用 NASA 的钱德拉 X 射线天文台来分析无线电波形成的原因，他们将无线电波昵称为“高音谱号”，因为其独特的形状与音乐符号非常相似。
The researchers discovered the Treble Clef is likely caused by an outburst from a supermassive black hole, followed by a collision of two galaxy clusters. A paper describing the findings, led by Andrea Botteon of the National Institute for Astrophysics, or INAF, in Italy, published Wednesday in the Astronomy & Astrophysics journal .
研究人员发现，高音谱号很可能是由超大质量黑洞的爆发以及随后两个星系团的碰撞引起的。由意大利国家天体物理研究所 (INAF) 的 Andrea Botteon 领导的论文描述了这一发现，周三发表在《天文学与天体物理学》杂志上。
An explanation for the Treble Clef has been particularly difficult to find because the formation lies almost directly behind the plane of the Milky Way, meaning that stars, gas, and dust from our home galaxy largely block the view from Earth. However, by using telescopes that can peer through the intervening material, a team of researchers was able to identify what is responsible for this uncommon structure.
对高音谱号的解释特别困难，因为该结构几乎位于银河系平面的正后方，这意味着来自我们银河系的恒星、气体和尘埃很大程度上挡住了地球的视线。然而，通过使用可以透过中间材料进行观察的望远镜，一组研究人员能够确定是什么造成了这种不常见的结构。
NASA’s Chandra and the German Extended RÖntgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array (eROSITA) X-ray telescope found diffuse, hot gas at the location of the Treble Clef, showing that a galaxy cluster hosts the object. The researchers also determined the galaxy cluster is, in fact, two clusters in the process of merging. Galaxy clusters are some of the largest structures in the universe, containing hundreds of individual galaxies and huge reservoirs of superheated gas.
美国宇航局钱德拉和德国伦琴扩展成像望远镜阵列 (eROSITA) X 射线望远镜在高音谱号位置发现了弥漫的热气体，表明该物体所在的星系团。研究人员还确定，该星系团实际上是两个正在合并的星系团。星系团是宇宙中最大的结构之一，包含数百个单独的星系和巨大的过热气体库。
This new composite image of the Treble Clef and its cluster shows the multimillion-degree gas detected in X-rays by Chandra and eROSITA in blue, with some of the Chandra data derived from a special technique the authors used to highlight important features in the Chandra data. Radio data shown in red from the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR), a large network of radio telescopes in Europe reveals the doppelganger of the musical notation. The final piece of the combined image comes from infrared data obtained by the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope, appearing mostly white.
这张新的高音谱号及其星团的合成图像以蓝色显示了钱德拉和 eROSITA 在 X 射线中检测到的数百万度气体，其中一些钱德拉数据源自作者用来突出钱德拉数据中重要特征的特殊技术。来自欧洲大型射电望远镜网络低频阵列 (LOFAR) 的红色无线电数据揭示了乐谱的分身。组合图像的最后一张来自英国红外望远镜获得的红外数据，大部分呈白色。
The authors concluded that the Treble Clef likely formed in a two-stage process. First, an earlier outburst from a supermassive black hole in the galaxy cluster’s center drove clouds of charged particles and magnetic fields away at close to the speed of light. This led to a type of cosmic crescendo and initially produced bright radio waves that later faded as the particles lost energy. Next, the collision between the two clusters compressed or reenergized the cloud, which became brighter again in radio waves. Shock waves — similar to the sonic booms from supersonic jets — from the collision may have played a role in this reenergizing process.
作者得出的结论是，高音谱号可能是通过两个阶段的过程形成的。首先，星系团中心超大质量黑洞的早期爆发以接近光速的速度驱散了带电粒子和磁场云。这导致了一种宇宙渐强，最初产生了明亮的无线电波，后来随着粒子失去能量而消失。接下来，两个星团之间的碰撞压缩或重新激发了云层，在无线电波中云层再次变得更加明亮。碰撞产生的冲击波——类似于超音速喷气机的音爆——可能在这个重新激发能量的过程中发挥了作用。
To reveal evidence for the cluster collision in the Chandra data, the authors used a special technique that examined how much the cluster’s hot gas deviates from a symmetrical shape. Most of the hot gas is symmetrical and shaped approximately like an oval. The authors removed this symmetrical oval shape from the original X-ray image. The remaining X-ray emission in the residual image shows t is brightest on the left and right, and faintest in the center. The new composite image combines both the original X-ray and the residual X-ray images.
为了揭示钱德拉数据中星团碰撞的证据，作者使用了一种特殊技术来检查星团的热气体偏离对称形状的程度。大多数热气体是对称的，形状近似椭圆形。作者从原始 X 射线图像中删除了这个对称的椭圆形。残留图像中剩余的 X 射线发射显示 t 在左侧和右侧最亮，在中心最暗。新的合成图像结合了原始 X 射线图像和残留 X 射线图像。
The brighter X-rays in the residual image, toward the left and right of the cluster’s center, imply that the collision between the two clusters likely occurred along the left-right direction as seen in the image. The researchers think the direct collision between the two clusters occurred a few hundred million years ago, and the clusters are now moving away from each other.
残差图像中较亮的 X 射线朝向星团中心的左侧和右侧，这意味着两个星团之间的碰撞可能沿着图像中的左右方向发生。研究人员认为，两个星团之间的直接碰撞发生在几亿年前，现在两个星团正在相互远离。
The resemblance to a treble clef is a case of pareidolia, the phenomenon when people see familiar shapes in random data, since there is no scientific connection to the musical notation.
与高音谱号的相似之处是一种幻想性幻想，即人们在随机数据中看到熟悉形状的现象，因为与乐谱没有科学联系。
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, 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.
美国宇航局位于阿拉巴马州亨茨维尔的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。
This release features a composite image of a remarkable radio wave formation that strongly resembles a treble clef musical symbol, hovering in the midst of two colliding galaxy clusters.
此版本展示了一个引人注目的无线电波形成的合成图像，该图像与高音谱号音乐符号非常相似，盘旋在两个碰撞的星系团中间。
Here, galaxies in the galaxy clusters, plus foreground and background stars and galaxies, blanket the image with specks of light set against the blackness of space. At the center of the frame is a large, oval, blue-purple cloud with ragged edges. This is a multimillion-degree gas cloud in the two clusters detected in X-rays by Chandra and eROSITA, the Extended RÖntgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array.
在这里，星系团中的星系，加上前景和背景恒星和星系，在黑暗的太空中布满了光斑。画面中央是一朵巨大的椭圆形蓝紫色云，边缘参差不齐。这是钱德拉和 eROSITA（利用成像望远镜阵列扩展伦琴巡天）在 X 射线中检测到的两个星团中的数百万度气体云。
In the middle of the purple field, tilting slightly to our left, is what appears to be a giant treble clef, loosely drawn with a neon pink marker. Like the musical notation for which it’s named, the formation has a strong vertical stroke with a continuous, fluid line swooping back and forth as it moves from top to bottom.
在紫色区域的中间，稍微向左倾斜，有一个巨大的高音谱号，用霓虹粉红色记号笔松散地绘制。正如其命名的乐谱一样，该结构具有强烈的垂直笔画，从上到下移动时，有一条连续、流畅的线条来回摆动。
This radio wave formation appears to be the result of a two-stage process. First, charged particles and magnetic fields were driven from a supermassive black hole, producing bright radio waves. Those waves faded and lost energy over time, before being reenergized and compressed when the two galaxy clusters collided.
这种无线电波的形成似乎是两阶段过程的结果。首先，带电粒子和磁场从超大质量黑洞中被驱动，产生明亮的无线电波。随着时间的推移，这些波会逐渐减弱并失去能量，然后在两个星系团碰撞时重新注入能量并被压缩。