NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has spent the majority of its life studying the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. It was tasked with traveling to the asteroid, orbiting it, and eventually snatching samples so it could return that material to Earth. Spotting distant black holes wasn’t initially part of the plan, but as NASA explains in a new blog post, the probe’s observations of Bennu were hiding a secret that was uncovered by university students who were scouring the data.
美国宇航局的“奥西里斯-雷克斯”宇宙飞船，花了它生命的大部分时间来研究近地小行星本努。它的任务是前往小行星，绕其轨道运行，并最终获取样本，以便将这些物质送回地球。发现遥远的黑洞最初并不是计划的一部分，但正如美国宇航局在一篇新的博客文章中解释的那样，探测器对本努的观测隐藏了一个秘密，这个秘密是由正在搜索数据的大学生们发现的。
The REXIS instrument installed on OSIRIS-REx detected the distant black hole during an observation attempt long before it arrived at the asteroid. It spotted x-rays being emitted from a previously undiscovered object some 30,000 light-years away. After additional study, that newfound object is now believed to be a black hole.
安装在奥西里斯-雷克斯上的REXIS仪器在一次观测中发现了这个遥远的黑洞，这比它到达小行星早得多。它发现了3万光年外一个此前未被发现的物体发射出的x射线。经过进一步的研究，这个新发现的物体现在被认为是一个黑洞。
Other scientists were able to spot the same object and help in its identification. NASA explains:
其他科学家也发现了同样的物体，并帮助鉴定。NASA解释道:
The glowing object turned out to be a newly flaring black hole X-ray binary – discovered just a week earlier by Japan’s MAXI telescope – designated MAXI J0637-430. NASA’s Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) telescope also identified the X-ray blast a few days later.
这个发光的物体原来是一个新的黑洞X射线双星，一周前被日本MAXI望远镜发现，命名为MAXI J0637-430。美国宇航局的中子星内部合成探测器(NICER)望远镜也在几天后发现了X射线爆炸。
“Detecting this X-ray burst is a proud moment for the REXIS team. It means our instrument is performing as expected and to the level required of NASA science instruments,” Madeline Lambert, an MIT graduate student who helped discover the black hole, said in a statement.
“探测到这一X射线爆发对雷克斯团队来说是一个值得骄傲的时刻。这意味着我们的仪器正按预期运行，达到了美国宇航局科学仪器所要求的水平。”帮助发现黑洞的麻省理工学院研究生马德琳·兰伯特(Madeline Lambert)在一份声明中说。
“We set out to train students how to build and operate space instruments,” MIT professor Richard Binzel, added. “It turns out, the greatest lesson is to always be open to discovering the unexpected.”
麻省理工学院教授理查德·宾泽尔(Richard Binzel)补充道：“我们开始培训学生如何建造和操作太空仪器。”。“事实证明，最重要的一课就是要时刻保持开放的心态，去发现那些意想不到的事情。”
The OSIRIS-REx mission is ongoing, and the spacecraft’s trip back to Earth with its sample payload will take years. At present, it’s expected to return its samples in late September of 2023, so we still have a long way to go before scientists can study the asteroid material up close.
“欧西里斯-雷克斯”号的任务仍在进行中，飞船带着样本载荷返回地球的旅程将需要数年时间。目前，它有望在2023年9月下旬返回样本，因此，在科学家们能够近距离研究小行星物质之前，我们还有很长的路要走。
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