A relatively nearby galaxy that closely resembles our own Milky Way can be seen edge-on in a new image.

 一個較近的星系酷似我們的銀河系，在一張新圖片中可以看到它的側(cè)面。

 Observations of the galaxy, NGC 4945, suggest that this hive of stars is a spiral galaxy much like our own, with swirling, luminous arms and a bar-shaped central region.

 星系NGC4945的觀測資料顯示：這一群恒星是一個漩渦星系，有著明亮的旋臂和棒狀的中心區(qū)域，在很大程度上類似我們的銀河系。

 But that's where the similarity seems to end: NGC 4945 has a brighter center than the Milky Way; the look-alike's center likely harbors a supermassive black hole that is devouring reams of matter and blasting energy out into space.

 然而，相似之處好象到此為止。NGC4945的中心比銀河系更加明亮，其中心很可能擁有一個超大質(zhì)量的黑洞，正在吞噬大量的物質(zhì)，并且向太空噴發(fā)著巨大的能量。

 The new portrait of NGC 4945, which lies some 13 million light-years away in the constellation of Centaurus, was taken by the Wide Field Imager (WFI) instrument at the 2.2-metre MPG/ESO telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile.

 NGC4945位于人馬座，大約在1,300萬光年之外。這張新圖像是由智利拉息拉天文臺2.2米MPG/ESO望遠鏡上搭載的寬視野攝像儀(WFI)拍攝的。

 NGC 4945 appears cigar-shaped from our perspective on Earth, but the galaxy is actually a disc many times wider than it is thick, with bands of stars and glowing gas spiraling around its center. Other spiral galaxies, like ours, are similarly flattened and typically contain a central bulge of stars around a black hole.

 從地球的角度來看，星系NGC4945就象一根雪茄，但實際上該星系是圓盤狀的，其直徑是厚度的許多倍。排列成條狀的恒星以及熾熱的氣體在中心周圍盤旋。其他的漩渦星系跟銀河系一樣，呈扁平狀，在黑洞周圍通常包含一個由恒星構(gòu)成的中心凸出區(qū)。

 Special filters on the telescope isolate the color of light emitted by heated gases such as hydrogen, showing sharp contrasts in NGC 4945 that indicate areas of star formation.

 該望遠鏡上的特殊濾光片把高溫氣體（如：氫氣）所釋放的光色分離出去，使星系NGC4945的圖像對比非常清晰，顯示出其中的恒星形成區(qū)。

 Other observations have revealed that NGC 4945 has an active galactic nucleus, meaning its central bulge emits far more energy than calmer galaxies like the Milky Way.

 其他的觀測資料顯示，NGC4945擁有一個活動星系核，這意味著：跟象銀河系這樣比較平靜的星系相比，其中心的凸出區(qū)域所釋放的能量要多得多。

 Black holes gravitationally draw gas and dust into them, accelerating and heating this attracted matter until it emits high-energy radiation, including X-rays and ultraviolet light. Most large, spiral galaxies, including the Milky Way, host a black hole in their centers, though many of these dark monsters no longer actively "feed" at this stage in galactic development.

 黑洞的引力將氣體和塵埃吸進來，并使吸進的物質(zhì)加速升溫，直到釋放出高能輻射，包括X射線和紫外光。包括銀河系在內(nèi)的多數(shù)大型漩渦星系，都在中心區(qū)域“招待著”一個黑洞。然而，在星系演化的這個階段，許多“黑怪”已經(jīng)不再活躍地“進食”。