天文學家發現了一個充當微中子工廠的星系
Astronomers discover a galaxy that acts as a neutrino factory
Updated at: June 20, 2026 at 05:00 AM
在過去的一個多世紀裡，人類觀察宇宙主要依賴光。
For over a century, humans viewed the universe primarily through light.
然而，隨著微中子天文學的興起，發生了突破性的轉變。
However, a groundbreaking shift has occurred with the rise of neutrino astronomy.
2017年，冰立方微中子觀測站達成了一個歷史性的里程碑，將一個高能微中子追溯到一個特定的耀變體——TXS 0506+056，它位於四十億光年之外。
In 2017, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory achieved a historic milestone by tracing a high-energy neutrino back to a specific blazar, TXS 0506+056, located four billion light-years away.
耀變體是一種由超大質量黑洞提供動力的活躍星系核，它能將強烈的輻射噴流直接射向地球。
A blazar is an active galactic nucleus powered by a supermassive black hole, firing intense jets of radiation directly at Earth.
由於微中子是「幽靈般」的粒子——呈電中性、幾乎沒有質量，且不受磁場影響——因此它們能從發源地直線傳播。
Because neutrinos are "ghostly" particles—neutral, nearly massless, and unaffected by magnetic fields—they travel in straight lines from their origin.
這使得它們能作為信使，揭示傳統望遠鏡無法窺見的極端宇宙事件。
This allows them to act as messengers, revealing extreme cosmic events that are hidden from traditional telescopes.
這些「微中子工廠」很可能是拍電子伏特加速器(ㄆㄞ ㄉㄧㄢˋ ㄗˇ ㄈㄨˊ ㄊㄜˋ ㄐㄧㄚ ㄙㄨˋ ㄑㄧˋ，簡稱PeVatrons)，能將粒子加速到遠超地球上任何設備所能創造的能量。
These "neutrino factories" are likely PeVatrons, which accelerate particles to energies far beyond anything created on Earth.
儘管像TXS 0506+056和塞弗特星系NGC 1068這樣的耀變體已被確認為來源，但大部分瀰散性的微中子通量仍然是一個謎。
While blazars like TXS 0506+056 and the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068 have been identified as sources, much of the diffuse neutrino flux remains a mystery.
隨著研究人員繼續透過這些難以捉摸的粒子繪製天體圖，他們實際上正在開發一種新的透鏡來觀察宇宙中最劇烈和高能的過程，這使我們更接近解開宇宙射線之謎。
As researchers continue to map the heavens through these elusive particles, they are effectively developing a new lens to observe the most violent and energetic processes in the cosmos, moving us closer to solving the mystery of cosmic rays.
