哈勃拍摄到银河系中暗物质

These latest images from the Hubble Telescope are among the clearest evidence yet of the mysterious effect of 'dark matter' on the galaxy - showing distortions akin to seeing an image reflected in a curved mirror.

这些哈勃望远镜所拍摄到的清楚的关于神秘的银河系中暗物质的照片，正如在镜子中看到的扭曲的图案一样。

This image has yielded such impressive results because the galaxy being targeted is MACS 1206, a massive galaxy cluster with a gravitational pull so huge it acts like a giant cosmic 'lens', warping the fabric of space-time so that light from nearby stars is distorted.

这张图片产生了令人印象深刻的结果，因为自从银河系被1206号卫星观测，一个被巨大吸力吸引的星系团正如长镜头一样，扭曲时空的结构形状。这样，从附近的恒星来的光线是扭曲的。

Hubble's Cluster Lensing and Supernova Survey- CLASH - is charting the distribution of dark matter in 25 clusters.

哈勃的集群透镜和超新星调查显示将暗物质的分布分成了25个部分。

The Hubble scientists are scanning cluster galaxies, the most massive objects in the universe held together by gravity, to see if light is distorted by the dark matter inside the clusters.

用哈勃望远镜的科学家正在调查研究拥有宇宙中由重力拉合在一起最密集的集群星系，看看是否光线在暗物质中被扭曲了。

The astronomers say the distortions produced by MACS 1206 is evidence that the galaxies are largely 'made' of dark matter.

天文学家说由1206号卫星导致的光线扭曲是非常明显的，而且银河系大部分都是由暗物质构成的。

The distortions shown in the images would be far weaker if the only mass in MACS 1206 was the mass of the stars and planets we can see.

在图中看到的扭曲实际更弱，除非1206号卫星上看到的大量的星星和行星是我们能看到的。

CLASH uses the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Wide Field Camera 3, the CLASH survey to covers a broad wavelength range, from ultraviolet to near infrared.

另一组研究员用像是广角相机类的先进的相机进行调查，其调查覆盖的波长范围广泛,从紫外线到近红外线。

Astronomers need the diverse colors to estimate the distances to lensed galaxies and study them in more detail.

天文学家需要不同的颜色来拍摄于星系的距离估计并研究他们的更多细节。

These maps are being used to test previous results that suggest that dark matter is more densely packed inside clusters than some models predict.

这些图片将会用来测试是否如之前模型所预测的一样，暗物质在某些星系集群里密度更大。

MACS 1206 lies 4.5 billion light-years from Earth.

1206号卫星距地球有45亿光年远。

The era when the first clusters formed is not precisely known, but is estimated to be at least 9 billion years ago and possibly as far back as 12 billion years ago.

第一个星系集群形成的时代现在已经不能准确知道了，但是据估计至少是在9亿年前形成的，或许更早一些，在120亿年前就已经形成了。

If most of the clusters in the CLASH survey are found to have excessively high accumulations of dark matter in their central cores, then it may yield new clues to the early stages in the origin of the universe.

若是在调查研究中发现大部分的星座集群在中心部分都是由大量的暗物质聚集而成的，那就很有可能在关于宇宙起源的这一问题上的到新的线索。