Supermassive Black Holes 超大质量黑洞 - 12

This correlation¹ is the most important thing we've learned about supermassive black hole so far. Astronomers² are always looking for correlations³. Whenever you find one that's really tight like this one, it's a sign that there is some basic physics there that you need to look for.

As it happens, the physics that might explain what was going on had been suggested years before by theorists Martin Rees and Jo Silk. Jo Silk has spent much of his life trying to solve the mystery of galaxy⁴ formation. Three years ago it became clear that he had been missing a vital ingredient. If there was a black hole in every galaxy, then scientists would need to explain what it was doing there.

We had to rethink our ideas of how galaxies⁵ were made. To understand the first light at(of/in) the universe we really have to include the role of the supermassive black holes in galaxy formation.

All previous ideas of galaxy formation had assumed that gas in the early universe simply condensed to form stars in galaxies. Silk and Rees came up with a completely different idea. They proposed that the center of each early gas cloud could have collapsed⁶ to form a giant black hole. The black hole would immediately start feeding on the gas around it creating a brilliant quasar.

correlation: a mutual relationship of interdependence between two or more things

1 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

2 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 correlations   

相互的关系( correlation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One would expect strong and positive correlations between both complexes. 人们往往以为这两个综合体之间有紧密的正相关。
• The correlations are of unequal value. 这些对应联系的价值并不相同。

4 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

5 galaxies   

星系( galaxy的名词复数 )； 银河系； 一群（杰出或著名的人物）

参考例句：

• Quasars are the highly energetic cores of distant galaxies. 类星体是遥远星系的极为活跃的核心体。
• We still don't know how many galaxies there are in the universe. 我们还不知道宇宙中有多少个星系。

6 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。