Seven Ages of Starlight(恒星七纪)[2012]电影台词本阅读、下载和单词统计

电影名称：恒星七纪
英文名称：Seven Ages of Starlight
年代：2012

推荐：千部英美剧台词本阅读

时间	英文	中文
[00:05]	Each night, after the sun sets,	每当太阳落山夜幕降临
[00:09]	sit back, look up	坐在大地仰望天空
[00:12]	and you can witness an epic drama playing above our heads.	就能目睹一部史诗剧作在眼前上演
[00:20]	One involving a cast of billions.	这部剧作拥有数十亿的演员
[00:26]	The stars.	恒星
[00:29]	Every one with its own story to tell.	每一颗都有自己的故事
[00:35]	There are old Red Giants,	垂垂老矣的红巨星
[00:37]	so puffed up they’re coming apart at the seams.	膨胀得太大以至于正在逐渐裂开
[00:42]	Supernovae,	超新星
[00:43]	the most spectacular firework displays in the universe.	宇宙中最壮观的烟火秀
[00:48]	Mysterious black holes,	神秘的黑洞
[00:51]	stellar tombstones that we are only beginning to understand.	它们是我们刚刚有所了解的恒星墓碑
[01:00]	And when the Sun rises again,	而当太阳再次冉冉升起
[01:02]	we can see a star in the prime of its life.	我们看到的是一颗正当壮年的恒星
[01:11]	Unravelling the life and times of these stars	揭示这些恒星的生命历程
[01:14]	has revealed extraordinary secrets about the universe	向我们展现了宇宙的奥秘
[01:18]	and our own place within it.	以及我们在其中的地位
[01:25]	At the tale’s end lie clues	故事结尾留下的线索
[01:28]	to one of the biggest mysteries in science.	能解开科学中最大的奥秘
[01:36]	This is the story of the stars.	这就是恒星的故事
[01:54]	For thousands of years,	数千年来
[01:55]	we’ve told stories about the Sun and stars,	我们讲述着太阳和恒星的故事
[01:59]	populating the heavens with gods and giants.	九天之上居住着神祇和巨人
[02:05]	Ancient Egyptians worshipped the Sun, calling it Ra.	古埃及人信奉太阳神拉
[02:12]	Orion the Hunter strode the heavens.	猎户座猎人踱步天际
[02:18]	Stars and whole constellations	恒星和星座
[02:20]	were characters that moved	是随着季节变化
[02:22]	above our head with the changing seasons.	而在我们头顶上移动的诸神
[02:30]	In the 20th century,	到了二十世纪
[02:32]	modern astronomers discovered that,	现代天文学家发现
[02:34]	in a way, our instincts were right.	我们的直觉似乎是正确的
[02:40]	The stars in the twinkling night sky aren’t all the same.	每晚在夜空中闪烁的星星不尽相同
[02:46]	Powerful telescopes have revealed	强大的望远镜
[02:48]	the sheer variety of their brightnesses and colours.	揭示了它们千变万化亮度和颜色
[02:53]	And in that diversity,	正是在这些不同之中
[02:55]	scientists have discovered a new story.	科学家找到了一个新的故事
[02:59]	When we see the stars in the sky, they look all different,	当我们仰望星空恒星看起来各不相同
[03:04]	but once we put them together	但是一旦把它们
[03:06]	in order of colour, in order of brightness,	按照颜色和亮度排序
[03:09]	this is where we get, some kind of sense of order,	我们就会发现它们有规律可循
[03:13]	and this is what makes the whole story so interesting.	故事也因此变得有趣了
本电影台词包含不重复单词：1495个。其中的生词包含：四级词汇：387个，六级词汇：224个，GRE词汇：232个，托福词汇：347个，考研词汇：409个，专四词汇：350个，专八词汇：75个，所有生词标注共：711个。定制生词标注的台词本和单词统计，请访问生词标注台词本
[03:18]	Dr Francisco Diego has	弗朗西斯科·迭戈博士
[03:20]	devoted his career to understanding the stars,	一生致力于恒星的研究
[03:25]	their individual natures	它们各自的性质
[03:27]	and the connections that can be found between them.	以及它们之间的联系
[03:35]	For example, this is Arcturus,	例如这是大角星
[03:37]	a very bright, red star that goes here.	一颗红色的光耀夺目的恒星
[03:41]	This is Beta Centauri,	这是半人马座贝塔星
[03:43]	which is a very hot, blue star.	一颗炽热的蓝色恒星
[03:48]	The Sun is at a medium temperature.	太阳温度处于它们中间
[03:50]	It has to go more or less in-between.	所以要放在这两个之间
[03:56]	By plotting stars according to their characteristics,	根据恒星的性质将其排列
[04:00]	astronomers uncovered a pattern…	天文学家发现了一个规律
[04:05]	One that reveals different types of star,	它揭示了不同类型的恒星
[04:08]	each with its own personality and contribution to the universe.	都有自己的特点以及对宇宙特别的贡献
[04:16]	But the patterns are a clue to something more fundamental.	但是这个规律引出了一个更重要的问题
[04:22]	This is telling us that, as time goes on,	它在告诉我们随着时间的推移
[04:26]	the stars themselves start to change	恒星自身会发生变化
[04:29]	and to develop, to evolve.	会发展会演化
[04:32]	And then we have a pattern here,	然后就有了这个规律
[04:35]	a kind of cycle, the lifecycle of stars.	一种循环恒星的生命循环
[04:40]	In discovering the seven ages of the stars,	在探索恒星七纪的过程中
[04:43]	scientists have uncovered the story of the universe,	科学家们揭示了宇宙的故事
[04:48]	and, just like for us,	就和我们一样
[04:50]	it all begins with birth.	一切从诞生开始
[05:03]		赫斯特蒙天文台苏塞克斯英国
[05:08]	One of the most gazed at patches of sky throughout history	有史以来最引人注目的一片星空
[05:11]	is the one containing a cluster called the Pleiades.	是昴星团的所在之处
[05:12]		昴星团金牛座
[05:23]	But the ancient astronomers didn’t know that	但是古代的天文学家不知道
[05:26]	the Pleiades hold a secret…	昴星团藏着一个秘密
[05:31]	One that modern astronomers have revealed.	一个被现代天文学家发现的秘密
[05:52]	This cluster, the Pleiades,	这个星团昴星团
[05:54]	mentioned by Homer in the Odyssey, they appear in the Bible	在荷马的《奥德赛》以及《圣经》
[05:55]		弗朗西斯科·迭戈博士天文学家伦敦大学学院
[05:57]	and in some of the codices by the Aztecs and the Maya.	还有阿兹特克人和玛雅人的圣书中被提及
[06:02]	But the interesting thing is that the Pleiades are so young	有趣的是昴星团非常年轻
[06:05]	that early dinosaurs never saw them,	早期的恐龙都没有见过它们
[06:09]	because at that time, the Pleiades hadn’t been formed yet.	因为在那时昴星团还没有形成
[06:17]	At 100 million years old, they are like baby stars,	年仅一亿岁它们是恒星中的小娃娃
[06:21]	very, very young stars.	极其年轻的恒星
[06:24]	Some of the youngest stars that we can see in the sky.	天空中所能见到的最年轻的恒星
[06:33]	A star is being born somewhere every day.	每天都有恒星在某处诞生
[06:40]	Each time, it’s one of the most magical events in the cosmos.	每一颗的诞生都是宇宙中最奇妙的事件
[06:48]	One that requires mighty forces of nature.	一个需要创世之力的过程
[06:55]	And to set the process going, just an element of chance.	而触发这一过程不过是一个偶然
[07:04]	The tale starts in the cold, dark clouds	故事从宇宙深处昏暗且寒冷的
[07:07]	of dust and gas that lurk in deep space…	尘埃与气体云讲起
[07:13]	and that have filled the mind and imagination of Professor Serena Viti	这些云团是塞雷娜·维蒂博士
[07:18]	throughout her career studying the birth of stars.	研究恒星形成的关键所在
[07:25]	These clouds are really vast.	这些云非常巨大
[07:27]	They can be up to 300 light years across.	可以延伸到300光年
[07:30]	And many stars form there,	许多恒星在那里诞生
[07:31]		塞雷娜·维蒂博士天文学家伦敦大学学院
[07:32]	which is why we call sometimes these clouds stellar nurseries.	因此我们称其为恒星的摇篮
[07:37]	Many regions within these clouds can stay like that for ever,	云中许多地方数百万年不曾改变
[07:40]	for millions of years, until something happens, a trigger,	直到什么发生比如一个触动
[07:43]	and then a star forms.	然后恒星开始形成
[07:47]	The trigger for such a monumental event doesn’t have to be much.	触发这个重大事件并不难
[07:52]	Two clouds can bump as they pass,	两块云团的碰撞
[07:57]	or a distant cosmic event can send a shockwave,	或是遥远的宇宙活动引发的激波
[08:01]	just something to give the cloud a squeeze.	仅需挤压一下云团
[08:05]	All you need is a little bit of pressure	只要一点压力
[08:07]	to allow the gas to be dense enough	让气体密度足够大
[08:10]	for gravity to take over and collapse to start.	然后引力发挥作用云团开始坍塌
[08:15]	The particles of dust and gas	静静漂浮在宇宙中的
[08:17]	that had been quietly floating in space	尘埃和气体
[08:20]	now start being pulled together.	开始聚在一起
[08:25]	Gravitational attraction draws them towards each other,	引力让它们互相吸引
[08:29]	faster and faster.	而且越来越快
[08:34]	As the collapse continues to happen,	随着坍塌的继续
[08:36]	the gas and the dust will fall into the centre	气体和尘埃会落向中心
[08:39]	and they will become denser and denser,	密度越来越大
[08:41]	and the centre of the cloud will become hotter and hotter.	云团的中心温度越来越高
[08:48]	The laws of nature mean	自然规律决定
[08:50]	that when matter gets compressed, it heats up.	物体被压缩时温度会升高
[08:56]	Over millions of years, the protostar grows,	数百万年间原恒星不断成长
[09:01]	increasing the pressure and heat in its core,	内核的压力增大温度升高
[09:04]	until, finally, it reaches a critical temperature.	直到最终到达临界温度
[09:10]	About 15 million degrees,	大约1500万度
[09:12]	and a fundamental process	一个重要的反应
[09:14]	will start in the core of the embryonic star.	会在刚形成的恒星内核开始
[09:19]	Almost in a flash, the core of the star,	一瞬间恒星的内核
[09:23]	like our own Sun’s once did, dazzlingly lights up.	就像我们的太阳开始发出耀眼的光芒
[09:31]	A star is born.	一颗恒星就此诞生
[09:41]	If you look at the night sky and you look up at a twinkling star,	如果仰望夜空注视闪烁的星星
[09:45]	you think of this little pinpoint of light,	你会觉得这个小小的亮点
[09:45]		史蒂夫·考利英国原子能机构
[09:47]	almost like a Christmas tree light.	就像是圣诞树上的彩灯
[09:49]	And, actually, what it is	事实上
[09:51]	is this incredible cauldron of energy being released.	那里正释放着巨大的能量
[09:57]	To witness what’s going on inside these points of light,	要想了解亮点里在发生什么
[10:00]	you have to go somewhere closer to home.	那就要到离家近一点的地方
[10:06]	To the Joint European Torus, JET, in Oxfordshire.	到牛津郡的欧洲联合环形加速器
[10:13]	Where they study what happens in the heart of stars,	那里专门研究恒星内部的反应
[10:19]	the hydrogen fusion that brings them to life.	那就是点亮恒星的核聚变
[10:26]	What we’re trying to do in JET	用欧洲联合环形加速器
[10:28]	is essentially to make a little star on Earth.	我们想在地球上创造一颗小恒星
[10:31]	We’re trying to create the conditions necessary	我们试图创造满足核聚变的条件
[10:35]	to create the fusion of hydrogen, and with it,	然后依靠核聚变
[10:39]	to create copious amounts of energy, lots and lots of energy.	产生大量的能量
[10:45]	If you’re going to attempt to create a star on Earth,	如果想在地球上创造恒星
[10:48]	you need something able to withstand	使用的仪器
[10:50]	the incredible energies involved.	要能承受极高能量
[10:54]	You need a torus,	你需要一个回旋加速器
[10:57]	a giant, doughnut-shaped structure	一个能够承受一亿度高温的
[10:59]	where temperatures can reach over 100 million degrees.	巨大的环形结构
[11:07]	Inside, an incredibly powerful magnetic field	在它内部极强的磁场
[11:10]	holds the hydrogen fuel.	束缚着氢燃料
[11:15]	OK. Right, trigger, please.	好了启动吧
[11:20]	The conditions are so extreme that each attempt at star creation	所需条件如此极端每一次造星
[11:23]	is a tense event.	都非常紧张
[11:25]	Nine, eight, seven…	九八七…
[11:28]	So what’s happening now on JET	现在欧洲联合环形加速器
[11:30]	is that they are powering up the magnets,	正在启动磁铁
[11:33]	and as they power up the magnets,	在启动过程中
[11:35]	it will be pushing the electric current round the loop.	会让电流通过环路
[11:39]	If you can see that red colour beginning to be there,	你能看到那里逐渐变红
[11:42]	that’s the beginning of the plasma firing up.	那是等离子体在形成
[11:45]	First, they have to pull apart	首先要把构成物质的
[11:47]	the basic building blocks of matter,	最小微粒分解
[11:49]	atoms.	原子
[11:52]	Then hurl them together again so they fuse	然后再让它们高速撞击发生聚变
[11:55]	and create starlight.	产生星光
[11:58]	You can see the plasma hitting the bottom,	你可以看到等离子体在容器底部撞击
[12:00]	and so the lighting up on the bottom there…	所以底部会开始发光
[12:03]	Oh, now it’s really in full bloom.	现在颜色很鲜艳了
[12:05]	This is probably about 30 million degrees right now.	里面大概是三千万度
[12:11]	This is a little bit of a star, here on Earth.	这就是地球上形成的一颗小恒星
[12:16]	And, yes, it seems like that was about 2.5 million amps	看来流经等离子体的电流
[12:21]	going through that plasma right there,	有250万安培
[12:24]	and I think we had a successful shot because of all the excitement.	大家这么兴奋看来这次是成功了
[12:31]	It lasted just a brief moment,	虽然只持续了很短的时间
[12:33]	but at JET, they’ve managed to replicate	但是在这里他们成功的复制了
[12:36]	what happens in the biggest objects in the universe,	宇宙中最大物体的内部反应
[12:39]	the stars.	恒星的内部反应
[12:44]	And they’ve done it because	他们的成功
[12:46]	scientists like Professor Steve Cowley	是因为史蒂夫·考利博士这样的科学家
[12:48]	understand the smallest.	了解最小的微粒
[12:55]	At the centre of each hydrogen atom is a proton.	在每个氢原子中心有一个质子
[12:59]	And around that proton	在质子周围
[13:01]	is an electron going round in a sort of an orbit.	是一个电子沿某种轨道环绕质子运动
[13:07]	With enough heat and pressure,	在足够的热量与压力作用下
[13:09]	the orbiting electron	绕转的电子
[13:10]	will be stripped away from the proton at the centre.	会被从中心质子旁剥离
[13:16]	Do it to enough atoms,	足够多原子被剥离电子
[13:18]	and you create a plasma,	你就创造了一团等离子体
[13:20]	a soup of unattached particles.	分离粒子熬成的一锅汤
[13:24]	And if the conditions are intense enough,	如果能符合一些极端条件
[13:26]	something extraordinary happens.	不可思议的事情将会发生
[13:29]	A chain reaction begins.	一个链式反应开始了
[13:32]	The protons are running around	质子们四处乱窜
[13:34]	and because they’re positively charged	由于它们带正电荷
[13:36]	and they repel each other at distance,	它们互相排斥彼此保持距离
[13:39]	most of the time, they just glance off each other.	多数时候它们只会擦身而过
[13:43]	At high energy, they bump into each other hard enough	当能量足够高时它们会狠狠撞向对方
[13:45]	that, occasionally, they’ll stick.	有些时候可以合为一体
[13:47]	That’s the fusion process.	那便是聚变反应
[13:52]	When four hydrogen protons ultimately fuse,	当四个氢质子最终发生聚变
[13:55]	they create a new element.	它们创造出一种新元素
[13:57]	Hydrogen becomes helium,	氢元素变成了氦元素
[13:59]	and an enormous amount of energy is released.	释放出巨大的能量
[14:05]	This is what happens when a star is born,	这始于恒星诞生之初
[14:09]	and it’s all down to mass	一切都归结于质量
[14:10]	and the most famous equation in physics.	以及物理学中最著名的公式
[14:15]	That helium nucleus that you just made	新造的氦核
[14:17]	weighs less than the four hydrogens	质量比用于创造它的
[14:20]	you used to make it.	四个氢原子小
[14:24]	Somehow, mass has disappeared in the process.	不知何故反应中损失了部分质量
[14:29]	Anybody who knows any equation from physics	任何知道一点物理公式的人
[14:31]	knows that mass and energy	都明白能量与质量
[14:34]	are linked by Einstein’s most famous equation,	能用爱因斯坦最著名的公式联系在一起
[14:38]	his equation E equals mc squared.	质能方程能量等于质量乘上光速的平方
[14:44]	So that missing mass is energy.	因此丢失的质量便是能量
[14:50]	But because c squared is such a large number,	但由于光速的平方是一个很大的数
[14:53]	a tiny little bit of mass creates a phenomenal amount of energy.	一点点质量便能创造出巨额的能量
[15:00]	The Sun only needs to use	太阳每天只需要
[15:01]	an infinitesimal amount of its colossal mass each day	燃烧它九牛一毛的质量
[15:05]	to generate vast megawatts of energy.	就能产生数以百万瓦特计的能量
[15:13]	Nuclear fusion is the process	核聚变并不只是
[15:15]	that not only brings stars into being,	赋予了恒星生命
[15:17]	it’s what keeps them alive.	同样维持它们的生存
[15:22]	But when a star is born and starts its life story,	当一颗恒星诞生开始自己的生命旅程
[15:26]	scientists have discovered	科学家们发现
[15:27]	that something else very important can begin.	一些别的重要事情也随之展开
[15:36]	The first person to get an inkling	第一个看出
[15:37]	of this second story of creation	下一个创世故事个中端倪的
[15:40]	was Nicholas Copernicus,	是尼古拉·哥白尼
[15:43]	the father of modern astronomy.	现代天文学之父
[15:49]	And accidental social revolutionary.	他也带来了出人意料的社会革命
[15:55]	In 1543, he published a book	1543年间他出版了一本书
[15:58]	that overturned more than 1,000 years of astronomical thought.	颠覆了一千多年的天文思想
[16:04]	The belief that the Sun revolved around the Earth.	即相信太阳围绕地球旋转
[16:11]	Well, this is exciting.	这真的令人振奋
[16:12]	This is one of the most	这是科学史上
[16:13]		斯蒂芬·庞弗里教授科学史学家兰卡斯特大学
[16:13]	important books in the history of science.	最重要的书籍之一
[16:16]	You can see from the title page that it’s Copernicus’s	你能从扉页读到这是哥白尼的
[16:20]	Six Books On The Revolution Of The Heavenly Spheres,	六卷科学巨著《天体运行论》
[16:22]	and as well as being astronomically explosive,	这不仅对天文学界具有爆炸性影响
[16:25]	it was also explosive in terms of changing	也同样改变了人们的观念
[16:27]	humankind’s understanding of its place in the universe.	重新认识了地球在宇宙中位置
[16:31]	And we can see that, I think, quite clearly	我们可以看得很清楚
[16:33]	if we look at the famous diagram here,	如果我们仔细瞧瞧这张著名的图片
[16:35]	and you can see that here at the centre	我们能看到在中心
[16:37]	is not the Earth, as people had thought for thousands of years,	不是地球虽然几千年来人们一直这样想
[16:40]	but Sol, Latin for Sun,	而是拉丁语的太阳
[16:42]	and here is the Earth going around the central Sun	根据这革命性的新宇宙观
[16:46]	in this revolutionary new conception of the universe.	地球围绕着中心的太阳旋转
[16:51]	Earth had been relegated from the centre of the universe	地球的地位从宇宙的中心
[16:54]	to just the third rock circling the Sun.	降为第三块绕着太阳转的大石头
[17:00]	The traditional story of how the cosmos was constructed	关于宇宙如何形成的传统观点
[17:03]	had been shaken to its foundations.	其基石已被动摇
[17:09]	And, in the 16th century,	对于十六世纪而言
[17:11]	this had deeply subversive implications.	这蕴含着一种颠覆性的含义
[17:15]	At this time, people very much believed that	当时的人们非常相信
[17:17]	God had created a template for the heavens	上帝创造了一套天堂的模板
[17:20]	and he’d used pretty much the same template	所以人间社会应该也是
[17:22]	to create the society as well,	他用这套模板创造的
[17:24]	and so with this “as above so below” belief,	秉持这样一种”在下如在上”的信念
[17:27]	any change in the heavens	天堂的一点点变化
[17:29]	immediately had huge cultural implications.	便会直接导致文化巨变
[17:33]	By 1611, Copernicanism was sufficiently known that	到1611年哥白尼主义已广为流传
[17:36]	the poet John Donne says,	诗人约翰·多恩说
[17:38]	“The new philosophy calls all in doubt,	“世间万物新思想无不质疑
[17:42]	” ’tis all in pieces, all coherence gone.”	“逻辑不复存在一地狼藉“
[17:47]	Our view of our relationship with the Sun had completely changed.	我们与太阳之间的关系被彻底改变了
[17:54]	What Copernicus didn’t know,	不过哥白尼并不知晓
[17:56]	but what scientists have now worked out,	现在科学家发现
[17:58]	is that the Sun isn’t just at the centre of our solar system,	太阳并不仅仅位于太阳系的中心
[18:02]	it’s the creator of it.	它还是太阳系的创造者
[18:07]	The birth of a star	一颗恒星的诞生
[18:09]	leads to the birth of any planets that surround it.	会触发它周围行星的诞生
[18:18]	Planets are the natural consequences of star formation.	行星随着恒星的形成而产生
[18:25]	Planets are the left-over debris	行星是形成恒星的
[18:29]	of the gas and the dust forming a star.	气体和尘埃的残骸
[18:32]	They are like the afterbirth, if you like.	它们可以算得上是胞衣
[18:36]	As the new star is born,	当新的恒星诞生后
[18:38]	the orbiting remnants of the cloud from which it formed	孕育它的云团还剩下部分物质
[18:42]	start creating a disc,	它们围绕恒星形成一个盘
[18:45]	and over millions of years in this disc,	数百万年间在这个盘中
[18:48]	the dust grains start to stick together.	尘埃颗粒开始相互吸附
[18:54]	Blank out the light of a young star	将北天飞马座中
[18:56]	in the northern constellation of Pegasus,	一颗新星的光芒掩住
[18:59]	and you can see white dots,	你能看到这些白色光点
[19:01]	which are the planets forming in the disc of dust	它们是围绕着恒星的尘埃盘中
[19:04]	that surrounds the star.	正在形成的行星
[19:10]	Eventually, the star is encircled by its children.	最终恒星被它的子孙环绕着
[19:18]	This whole process explains	这整个过程解释了
[19:20]	the distinctive shape of all solar systems, including our own.	太阳系独特的结构包括我们地球
[19:27]	The reason why you see all the planets	你能看见这些行星
[19:30]	going around the Sun in the same direction on the same plane	在同一水平面上以相同方向绕着太阳旋转
[19:33]	is because they are all formed	是因为他们都来自
[19:34]	from the same belt, from the same disc.	同一个带同一个盘
[19:43]	Remarkably, just using observations with the naked eye	令人称奇的是仅仅以肉眼进行观测
[19:48]	and the power of deduction,	加诸强大的推理能力
[19:50]	Copernicus had created the	哥白尼画出了
[19:52]	first accurate family portrait of a star,	第一张准确的太阳系全家福
[19:55]	surrounded by its offspring, the planets.	一颗恒星以及环绕它的后代
[20:02]	But birth is just the beginning.	但诞生只不过是开始
[20:22]	Every morning at dawn,	每天清晨
[20:24]	the Sun becomes the only star that we can see in the sky.	太阳会成为天空中唯一可见的恒星
[20:32]	A star in middle age,	它正值中年
[20:36]	like 90% of all the other ones.	百分之九十的恒星也是如此
[20:41]	It’s only special to us because it’s so close.	太阳的特别之处在于它离我们很近
[20:47]	Once it was realised that the Sun was a star,	从我们发现太阳是一颗恒星起
[20:51]	it opens up an enormous window	一扇巨大的窗被开启了
[20:54]	to our understanding of the universe,	我们得以进一步了解宇宙
[20:56]	because the Sun really is the only star that we can properly see,	因为太阳是我们唯一能细致研究的恒星
[21:01]	and by looking at the Sun,	通过我们观测太阳
[21:02]	we have this magnificent laboratory so close to us,	我们有了一座宏伟的实验室它近在眼前
[21:05]	we can actually see it, we can actually study it,	我们能够实实在在地看见它研究它
[21:08]	we can actually see the surface,	我们能真切地看到它的表面
[21:10]	make models of the interior,	建造它的内部模型
[21:11]	measure a lot of things in the atmosphere.	测量大气中的许多物质
[21:13]	And by studying the Sun in that way, we are studying the stars.	如此一来研究太阳就相当于研究恒星
[21:19]	What most of us have learnt is that the Sun’s reliable,	大多人都知道到太阳非常可靠
[21:23]	dependable, unchanging.	值得信赖亘古不变
[21:30]	But its serene outward appearance that we take for granted	但在我们习以为常的宁静外表下
[21:33]	belies a truth about all middle-aged stars.	隐瞒着一个关乎所有中年恒星的真相
[21:40]	Beneath the surface, there’s a battle raging…	太阳表面下是一场激烈的战争
[21:46]	Uncovered by the scientists who know it better.	真相被知悉内情的科学家们揭露出来
[21:53]	The Sun is in the prime of its life.	太阳正值壮年
[21:56]	It’s a middle-aged star, but it’s actually very dynamic,	它虽是一颗中年恒星但它很有活力
[22:00]	very full of life.	生机勃勃
[22:06]	I regard the Sun as a sort of personal friend of mine	我个人将太阳当作一个密友
[22:07]		海伦·梅森博士太阳物理学家剑桥大学
[22:09]	and like to know what’s happening on the Sun each day,	每天都想知道它经历着什么
[22:12]	and I look at the satellite pictures to find out.	我每天观察卫星图片以寻找答案
[22:15]	It’s almost as if the Sun sometimes	有时候数据传送有误
[22:16]	doesn’t want you to know what’s happening on it, though,	或者其它原因让你看不清
[22:19]	because sometimes the data links could be down	好像太阳并不想
[22:20]	or something and you can’t actually see it.	让你知道它的近况
[22:22]	That’s quite frustrating,	那挺令人沮丧
[22:23]	because you want to know how your friend’s	因为你想知道你的朋友
[22:25]	getting on each day.	每天过得怎么样
[22:27]	Dr Helen Mason’s intimate relationship with the Sun	海伦·梅森博士与太阳之间的亲密关系
[22:30]	has turned her into one of the world’s leading solar physicists.	使她成了世界领先的太阳物理学家之一
[22:36]	People think of it as quiet and boring,	人们以为太阳很平静缺乏变化
[22:38]	but it’s not at all quiet and boring,	但事实并非一直如此
[22:41]	and that makes it really interesting to study.	因此它研究起来十分有趣
[22:45]	The work of scientists like Helen	像海伦一样的科学家的工作
[22:47]	has revealed that inside the Sun,	揭示了在太阳内部
[22:50]	there’s a fight between two of nature’s fundamental forces	有一场战争对手是宇宙中两股重要力量
[22:55]	that’s key to the star’s entire life history.	那是通往恒星平生的关键
[23:02]	The gravity that created a star is pulling it inwards,	创造一颗恒星的重力正在将它向内拉
[23:06]	trying to crush it.	试图压碎它
[23:10]	And the nuclear fusion that brought it to life	而给予它生命的核聚变
[23:12]	is pushing outwards,	又在向外推
[23:14]	ready to blow it apart.	时刻准备将它炸开
[23:20]	It will be disaster for the star	如果任意一方占据上风
[23:22]	if either of these two forces gets the upper hand.	那么这颗恒星将在灾难中毁灭
[23:31]	One 17th-century scientist	一名十七世纪的科学家
[23:32]	who studied the Sun didn’t know this.	在研究太阳时对此并不知情
[23:38]	But he did quickly realise	但他的确很快意识到
[23:39]	that our parent star was more turbulent than it seemed.	我们的母星比它看起来要狂躁得多
[23:47]	That man was Galileo Galilei.	那个人便是伽利略·伽利雷
[23:54]	He used one of the earliest telescopes	他运用的最早的望远镜
[23:56]	to project detailed images of the Sun,	通过投影得到了太阳的详细图像
[24:01]	completely transforming our understanding of it.	彻底改变了我们对太阳的认知
[24:08]	In the process, he shocked the world.	在这个过程中他震惊了全世界
[24:14]	Well, when Galileo looked at a projection of the Sun,	当伽利略观察太阳的投影时
[24:18]	very much in the way that I’m doing,	差不多和我现在的方法相同
[24:20]	what he saw were these, these spots,	他看到了太阳上有斑点
[24:22]	these black spots on the Sun.	黑色的斑点
[24:25]	People had seen them, previously –	人们此前也看到过
[24:27]	I think the ancient Chinese had seen them through the fog –	古代中国人就曾透过云雾看到过
[24:30]	but the important thing was that Galileo was actually saying	但最重要的是伽利略提出
[24:32]	that these sunspots were on the Sun	这些太阳黑子就在太阳上
[24:34]	rather than satellites or something going in front of the Sun,	而不是卫星也不是挡住太阳的东西
[24:37]	in defiance of thousands of years of Catholic thought	这一理论违背了天主教几千年来的思想
[24:40]	that everything was supposed to be perfect,	神创万物尽善尽美
[24:42]	and yet here we are with blemishes and spots on it.	而我们现在却发现了瑕疵和黑斑
[24:50]	Galileo’s controversial work	伽利略备受争议的研究成果
[24:52]	led him to end his days under house arrest,	导致他在软禁中度过余生
[24:57]	but his observations revolutionised our knowledge of the Sun.	但他的观测结果让我们重新认识了太阳
[25:03]	Sunspots appeared and disappeared,	太阳黑子时隐时现
[25:08]	and by tracking them for several days,	伽利略经过多天跟踪观测
[25:11]	Galileo showed they moved,	发现太阳黑子在移动
[25:13]	revealing that the Sun rotated.	这就表明太阳在旋转
[25:19]	What Galileo discovered overturned centuries of belief.	伽利略的发现颠覆了人们几世纪来的信仰
[25:30]	The Sun wasn’t a god-like immaculate disc,	太阳不是一个上帝般完美无暇的光盘
[25:34]	but a body that was constantly changing.	而是一个持续变化的物体
[25:38]	So this meant that the Sun was not sublime any more.	这就意味着太阳不再至高无上
[25:41]	It was made of the same sort of stuff as the Earth,	它和地球有着同样的组成物质
[25:43]	and therefore scientific processes that were applied to the Earth	这样一来我们用于研究地球的科学方法
[25:46]	could also be applied to the Sun.	也可以用来研究太阳
[25:49]	This underpins our subsequent discoveries	以此为基础我们才有了随后的新发现
[25:51]	about the Sun, the other stars and all of astronomy, really.	关于太阳其他恒星和整个天文学
[25:58]	Building on Galileo’s work,	基于伽利略的工作
[26:01]	scientists have discovered	科学家们还发现
[26:02]	that the Sun’s active, changeable nature, is in fact,	正是太阳活跃多变的特性
[26:05]	the characteristic that has the biggest impact on us.	给我们带来了最直接的影响
[26:13]	The sunspots he observed are linked to solar flares.	他观察到的黑子与太阳耀斑有关
[26:24]	Sudden, colossal releases of energy	耀斑爆发瞬间会释放巨大的能量
[26:26]	that can spew over a million tonnes of material into space.	将数百万吨的物质抛向太空
[26:35]	This stream of charged particles	这股带电粒子流
[26:37]	is able to scramble satellite communications –	能够扰乱卫星通讯
[26:41]	in extreme cases, knock out power grids.	极端情况下甚至能使电网瘫痪
[26:47]	And all caused	而这一切都源于
[26:48]	by the turbulent nature of the Sun’s magnetic field.	太阳磁场的湍动特性
[26:53]	Sometimes these magnetic fields get twisted up.	有时部分太阳磁场会缠在一起
[26:57]	The foot points move around, and they get really twisted up,	磁力线的足点到处移动磁力线错综交缠
[27:00]	and they get so knotted up that eventually they crack and break.	局部磁场变得异常复杂最终磁力线断裂
[27:06]	And we have solar flares, huge explosion.	这样就会爆发一场巨大的太阳耀斑
[27:09]	Particles are shot out into space.	粒子被喷向太空
[27:12]	In fact, this little active region,	我们最近观察的
[27:13]	I mean, it’s quite big, actually,	这块活动区域
[27:15]	that we’ve been looking at recently,	范围其实还挺大的
[27:16]	has been flaring continuously over the past few days.	过去的几天里一直在喷射耀斑
[27:25]	But while the Sun’s violent outbursts can harm us,	尽管这种剧烈的喷发对我们有害
[27:29]	its active nature is what allows us to live at all.	但正是太阳活动才让我们得以生存
[27:35]	Because the Sun also ejects the solar wind,	因为太阳也会喷射太阳风
[27:39]	an energised stream of particles that head out into space.	它们是被抛向太空中带电粒子流
[27:47]	And that we can see passing Earth	当粒子流撞上大气层时
[27:49]	as it bounces off our atmosphere…	我们就能欣赏到
[27:54]	..The aurorae.	美丽的极光
[28:03]	Then the solar wind flies on.	太阳风继续飘往远方
[28:09]	Putting on the same show at the poles of Jupiter…	在木星的两极绘出同样绮丽的辉光
[28:17]	..And Saturn too.	然后来到土星
[28:24]	Until, finally, 100 Earth Sun distances away,	最终在日地距离一百倍以外
[28:30]	it loses its momentum	太阳风势头减弱
[28:31]	and forms a boundary with deep space…	在宇宙中形成太阳系的边界
[28:37]	..Creating a protective bubble	吹出了一个保护泡
[28:39]	that shields our solar system	使我们所处的太阳系
[28:42]	from dangerous galactic radiation and cosmic ray –	免受银河辐射和宇宙射线的伤害
[28:48]	the heliosphere.	这就是日球层
[28:56]	Within it, life on a planet	在日球层的保护下
[28:58]	just the right distance away can thrive.	一颗距离适中的行星就能孕育生命
[29:12]	We are beneficiaries of the energy the Sun generates	太阳要不断地核聚变来抵抗重力
[29:17]	as nuclear fusion fights back against gravity.	而我们就受益于其中产生的能量
[29:31]	Energy isn’t created or destroyed, it’s transferred,	能量不会凭空出现或消失只会转移
[29:34]	so it’s transferred from the centre of the Sun	能量从太阳的核心穿过大气
[29:37]	through the atmospheres to us, in many forms,	以多种形式转移到我们身上
[29:41]	warmth and light,	阳光和热量
[29:42]	via the plants and via the food that we eat.	经由植物粮食养育了我们
[29:46]	‘As dawn throws into shadowy relief	当清晨的阳光洒向巨石阵
[29:48]	‘the giant pillars of Stonehenge,	在石柱间投下清晰的光影
[29:50]	‘the successors of the ancient Druids	古老德鲁伊祭司的传人
[29:52]	‘await the first rays of midsummer Sun.’	准备迎接夏至日的第一缕阳光
[29:55]	I can really understand	我非常理解
[29:56]	why ancient civilisations would have worshipped it,	古人为什么会崇拜太阳
[29:59]	because it is like a god in a sense of it	因为太阳就像神一样
[30:01]	provides everything that’s so important,	为我们提供了所有的必需品
[30:04]	that without it, the… life would cease to exist.	没有了太阳生命将不复存在
[30:12]	Ancient man was right to worry whether the Sun	古人担心太阳将不再升起
[30:15]	would rise again.	并非杞人忧天
[30:24]	It’s been burning for five billion years,	它已经燃烧了五十亿年
[30:28]	but it’s now used up half its hydrogen fuel	但它一半的氢燃料已经用于核聚变
[30:31]	resisting gravity.	来抵抗重力了
[30:37]	One morning, the Sun will rise on a last perfect day on Earth.	某天清晨太阳将最后一次眷顾地球
[30:45]	For many years, we had no idea when the end would come.	我们以前无从预测末日将何时来到
[30:54]	But now we can predict the Sun’s fate…	但我们现在却能解读太阳的命运
[30:59]	and our own.	和我们自己的命运
[31:03]	We’ve learnt it, not by studying the Sun,	这并非来源于对太阳的研究
[31:06]	but by observing all the other stars in the sky.	而是来自对其它众多恒星的观测
[31:13]	The breakthrough came	这一突破性进展
[31:15]	when American astronomer Henry Norris Russell	源于美国天文学家亨利·诺利斯·罗素
[31:18]	and the Dane, Ejnar Hertzsprung,	和丹麦人埃希纳·赫茨普龙的研究
[31:21]	tried to create a pattern	他们试图为夜幕中
[31:23]	that made sense of all the stars in the night sky.	所有的恒星建立一个普适的模型
[31:31]	No matter what their size,	不论恒星是大是小
[31:33]	or whether they burned hotter or dimmer.	也不论它们明亮还是黯淡
[31:41]	This finally revealed that stars had a lifecycle.	这一模型向我们揭示了恒星的生命循环
[31:49]	At the turn of the 20th century,	在二十世纪之交
[31:51]	astronomers have already a wealth of data about the stars.	天文学家已经积累了大量的恒星观测资料
[31:54]	Mainly, they have measured the colours	主要测量了恒星的颜色
[31:56]	and the real luminosities of them.	和它们的真实光度
[32:01]	So what Hertzsprung and Russell did	赫茨普龙和罗素所做的
[32:04]	was to organise the stars	就是把恒星
[32:06]		弗朗西斯科·迭戈博士伦敦大学学院天文学家
[32:07]	in order of temperatures and in order of luminosities,	按照温度和光度排列在一张图上
[32:12]	and this is the birth of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.	这样就画出了赫罗图
[32:17]	On one axis, they plotted how bright the stars would be	假设他们离地球距离都相同
[32:21]	if they were all the same distance away from us,	其中一个轴代表恒星的亮度
[32:24]	from the dimmest to the brightest.	由最暗的到最亮的
[32:30]	On the other axis was their temperature,	另一个轴代表恒星的温度
[32:33]	as indicated by their colour,	由恒星的颜色来表示
[32:35]	from blue and white hot to cooler red.	从温度高的蓝白星到较冷的红星
[32:42]	What was revelatory was the pattern that emerged.	经排列后的恒星展示出了神奇的规律
[32:47]	Almost all the stars fell into a central diagonal line,	几乎所有恒星都落在了图中央的对角线上
[32:51]	known as the main sequence.	这条对角线称为主序带
[32:54]	These are the middle-aged stars,	主序带上的恒星都尚处中年
[32:57]	ones who still have enough hydrogen in their cores	内核中还储有足够的氢
[33:00]	to fuse into helium and resist the force of gravity.	可以聚变为氦来抵御重力塌缩
[33:07]	But on either side were two small outcrops.	但在主序带两侧还有两小群恒星
[33:15]	By deciphering the diagram, scientists discovered	在解读赫罗图的过程中科学家们发现
[33:18]	that these outlying groups predicted the future of our Sun.	这两块边缘群体预示了太阳的未来
[33:24]	Now, the Sun will be burning hydrogen,	现在太阳还在燃烧氢
[33:28]	as the stars do in the main sequence,	所有主序星都如此
[33:30]	until the hydrogen is exhausted in the core,	但当内核的氢被耗尽的时候
[33:33]	and at that point, the star starts to die.	主序星就要开始走向死亡了
[33:35]	The outer layers of the Sun will expand.	太阳的外层会开始膨胀
[33:37]	The Sun will move away from the main sequence	它会渐渐脱离主序带
[33:40]	to become a Red Giant star.	成为一颗红巨星
[33:47]	From the apparent disorder of the night sky,	夜空中繁杂的恒星
[33:50]	a map had been created…	构成了一副简单的图谱
[33:55]	..On which you could chart a star’s journey through life.	在这张图上你可以勾画出恒星的一生
[34:02]	It revealed that the fate of our own star	它告诉我们太阳的命运
[34:04]	was written in the night sky.	就写在夜空中
[34:10]	Once its hydrogen runs out,	当太阳内的氢消耗殆尽
[34:13]	it will head off the main sequence	它将脱离主序带
[34:15]	and move into the next phase of its life,	进入它生命中的下一篇章
[34:20]	as a Red Giant.	成为一颗红巨星
[34:39]	Middleweight stars, like our Sun,	像太阳这样中低质量的恒星
[34:42]	don’t age gracefully	不会优雅地老去
[34:44]	but catastrophically.	而会制造一场灾难
[34:49]	They swell up and become some of the largest,	他们会膨胀成为宇宙中数一数二的
[34:52]	most bloated stars in the universe.	无比巨大的恒星
[34:59]	Stars 200 times the size of our Sun.	变成比太阳大两百倍
[35:05]	Thousands of times brighter.	亮几千倍的恒星
[35:09]	Stars that are some of the most destructive in the universe	变成宇宙中最具破坏性的恒星
[35:13]	but also the most creative,	但它们也最具创造力
[35:18]	shining a rancid red in the inky sky.	为漆黑的天空撒上点点猩红
[35:24]	Arcturus is a Red Giant star, very easy to find.	大角星就是一颗红巨星很容易找到
[35:30]	The tail of the Plough, the tail of the Big Bear,	就在大熊座北斗七星的末端
[35:32]	you follow that and you reach the star Arcturus,	沿着那里看去就可以找到大角星
[35:35]	so it is in a way following the Big Bear, as a bear-taker,	追随大熊正符合”Arcturus”原来的意思
[35:39]	which is what Arcturus means.	巨熊的守护者
[35:49]	Surprisingly,	奇特的是
[35:50]	Arcturus’s striking colour is not because it’s hotter	大角星引人注目的颜色并非因为它温度高
[35:55]	but because it’s cooler.	反而是因为它温度较低
[36:01]	As the balance between the opposing forces	当重力和核聚变的力量
[36:04]	of gravity and nuclear fusion breaks down,	无法再维持平衡时
[36:08]	the size of the star changes.	恒星的大小就会发生改变
[36:12]	Red Giants expand,	红巨星会逐渐膨胀
[36:16]	their fiery energy spreading over a larger area,	它们狂暴的能量扩散开来
[36:21]	which makes their temperature drop.	导致它们温度下降
[36:26]	They fall from blue or white hot	从蓝色或白色恒星
[36:30]	to red hot,	变为红色恒星
[36:32]	but because they are so large,	但因为它们体型巨大
[36:34]	these stars are still some of the brightest in the sky.	它们此时还是天空中最耀眼的恒星之一
[36:41]	That’s Arcturus.	那是大角星
[36:51]	When we see bright stars like Arcturus in the sky,	对于像大角星这样明亮的恒星
[36:54]	no doubt in many, many civilisations in the past,	在古代无疑有不少人类文明
[36:57]	they have some associations with these stars	把某些事件的发生
[36:59]	and something that happens.	与之联系起来
[37:06]	“Each star has its own distinct personality.	“每颗恒星都有着独特的个性
[37:07]		《自然博物志》老普林尼公元前一世纪
[37:10]	“And it creates effects according to its character.	“它们造成的影响也正符合个性
[37:16]	“When Arcturus rises, it is nearly always accompanied	“大角星的升起一定会伴随着
[37:20]	“by a terrible hailstorm.”	“一场猛烈的冰雹”
[37:29]	Actually, Arcturus is an omen	但其实大角星所预示的灾难
[37:31]	of something far worse than bad weather.	可比恶劣天气要糟糕的多
[37:37]	A portent of a drama more intense	它预示的恐怖场景
[37:40]	than any Hollywood could imagine.	好莱坞根本不能望其项背
[37:50]	When our own Sun eventually becomes a Red Giant,	当太阳在五十亿年后
[37:53]	in five billion years’ time,	最终变成红巨星时
[37:57]	it will turn into a destroyer,	它将由守护者
[37:59]	rather than a protector, of worlds.	演变为这个世界的毁灭者
[38:06]	Dr. Robin Catchpole has devoted his middle years	罗宾·卡其普尔博士多年以来
[38:09]	to studying these devouring beasts of the night.	致力于研究这些夜空的饕餮巨兽
[38:15]	Their story starts the day the hydrogen in their core runs out.	这要从它们内核中氢耗尽的那天说起
[38:22]	Most of the star’s life	恒星一生大部分时间
[38:23]	it spends fusing hydrogen into helium,	都在把氢聚变成氦
[38:27]	and this, of course, provides the pressure	而这一过程提供了
[38:30]	that resists the force of gravity.	用以抵抗引力的压力
[38:34]	When the hydrogen runs out in the core	当内核的氢耗尽
[38:36]	and we’ve just got pure helium,	仅剩下纯氦时
[38:38]	then there’s no source of energy,	就没有了能量来源
[38:40]	so the core starts to collapse.	所以内核开始塌缩
[38:40]		罗宾·卡其普尔博士剑桥大学天文学家
[38:43]	And as it collapses,	而在塌缩的过程中
[38:44]	under the force of gravity, it heats up.	温度在引力的作用下上升
[38:49]	And the temperature becomes high enough	然后温度升高到
[38:51]	to start nuclear fusion reactions in the shell around the core.	足以使核心外围的壳层发生核聚变
[38:57]	So we have what we call shell hydrogen burning.	我们称之为壳层氢燃烧
[39:02]	Fusion has stopped in the core.	核心已经停止了聚变
[39:05]	It’s still hot, but it’s dead.	它仍然很热但已经死了
[39:10]	The star is now fundamentally different	这颗恒星和我们的太阳
[39:12]	from our twinkling Sun.	已经完全不同了
[39:15]	The light we’re seeing	核聚变仍在继续
[39:17]	is still being generated by nuclear fusion,	发出我们所看见的光
[39:20]	but it’s happening in a ring of hydrogen	但它却发生在外围含氢的壳层
[39:23]	that surrounds the core instead.	而不是在内核中
[39:27]	This is our new source of energy	这是新的能量来源
[39:29]	and this, of course, resists the force of gravity	这一过程当然也会抵抗其自身的引力
[39:33]	and, in fact, causes the outer atmosphere of the star to expand.	并且实际上导致了恒星外层大气的膨胀
[39:44]	The star has begun its dramatic transformation	这颗恒星就开始其华丽的变身
[39:47]	into a Red Giant.	成为红巨星
[39:54]	For our own Sun,	对于我们的太阳来说
[39:56]	the change will be awe-inspiring,	这个变化将是令人畏惧的
[40:00]	as in its final years,	因为在它的晚年
[40:01]	it turns against the planets in its care.	它会毁掉它之前所照顾的行星
[40:07]	The first thing that happens is it expands up	首先它会不断膨胀
[40:10]	as far as Mercury’s orbit here and swallows Mercury.	一直膨胀到水星轨道然后吞没水星
[40:15]	At this stage,	到那个时候
[40:16]	it’s about 1,000 times more luminous than the Sun is today.	它将比现在的太阳亮一千倍
[40:20]	It continues to expand and, within another million years or so,	然后它继续膨胀大约再过几百万年
[40:24]	it gets as far as Venus,	它将膨胀到金星轨道
[40:26]	and that’s the end of Venus, Venus is swallowed up.	金星也就完了被吞没了
[40:29]	And then the Sun continues out towards the Earth.	然后太阳继续膨胀朝着地球而来
[40:38]	If we could see it, we would see something	要是我们能看到的话我们会看见它
[40:41]	nearly 3,000 times brighter than the Sun is today.	比现在的太阳亮三千倍
[40:45]	It would be 260 times bigger than it is today,	它比现在要大260倍
[40:49]	but it would not have that	但是却没有
[40:50]	beautiful tight compactness of the Sun today.	现在太阳的完美外形
[40:53]	Gas would be streaming off the surface,	气体从表面涌出
[40:55]	it would be red and turbulent, slightly transparent.	它将是红色的无比狂暴略微有点透明
[41:00]	It would almost seem to be coming apart at the seams.	看起来就像要从裂缝处炸开了一样
[41:05]	Our only chance of survival	我们唯一的存活希望
[41:07]	would be to flee long before this crisis,	就是在灾难降临前远远逃离
[41:11]	and go in search of another solar system to call home.	并寻找一个新的太阳系来安家
[41:20]	In its angry old age,	到了它狂暴的晚年
[41:22]	the Sun will show no mercy,	即使是面对它最心爱的孩子
[41:25]	even to its favoured child.	太阳也会毫不留情
[41:29]	And the Earth disappears into the Sun,	地球将消失在太阳中
[41:33]	and I’m afraid that’s curtains for the Earth.	恐怕那时就是地球的末日了
[41:40]	Our planet will be engulfed by a ball of fiery gases,	我们的星球将被炽热的气体球吞没
[41:44]	never to be seen again.	彻底被抹掉
[41:57]	The star that created and nurtured us	创造并哺育了我们的恒星
[41:59]	will ultimately, in its bloated old age,	最终将会在它膨胀的晚年
[42:02]	destroy us.	毁灭我们
[42:07]	But while Red Giants bring annihilation,	当红巨星带来了毁灭时
[42:11]	scientists have uncovered in them	科学家们却在其中发现了
[42:13]	the beginning of another story.	另一段故事的开始
[42:17]	A story of creation that is about us,	一个创造的故事和我们有关
[42:20]	as well as about the stars.	也与恒星有关
[42:26]	They discovered that in the last stages of the battle	科学家发现在引力与核聚变
[42:29]	between gravity and nuclear fusion,	对抗的最后阶段
[42:32]	Red Giants generate	红巨星产生了
[42:33]	two of the most abundant building blocks of the universe.	宇宙中最丰富的两种基本元素
[42:40]	And these vital elements	这些重要的元素
[42:42]	are being built in the heart of the Red Giant.	是在红巨星的核心处产生的
[42:48]	About half a million years after the poor old Earth	在太阳吞没了可怜的地球
[42:51]	has disappeared into the Sun,	大约五十万年后
[42:53]	we get the temperature rising to the point	其温度升高到了
[42:55]	where we can suddenly start helium fusion.	足以开始进行氦聚变
[42:59]	And this is the next phase of the life of the star,	这是恒星一生中的一个新阶段
[43:02]	is a stage where helium is being fused in the core	此时氦元素在恒星的内核中聚变
[43:07]	to produce carbon and oxygen.	并产生碳和氧
[43:11]	Stars, scientists discovered,	科学家们发现恒星
[43:13]	aren’t just twinkling points of light.	不仅能发出摇曳的星光
[43:16]	They’re alchemists,	它们还是炼金术士
[43:18]	creating the materials the cosmos is made of.	创造出组成宇宙的物质
[43:27]	Most of the carbon in your body	你身体中大多数的碳
[43:29]	comes from the discarded envelope of a Red Giant.	都来自于红巨星废弃的包层
[43:35]	As the war between gravity and nuclear fusion	当引力与核聚变的战争
[43:38]	reaches its conclusion,	终于要分出胜负时
[43:42]	the vast outer layers of the star	恒星巨大的外层包层
[43:44]	detach from the hot core,	就与高温的核心分离开来
[43:46]	recycling carbon and oxygen into the universe.	将碳和氧返还至宇宙中
[43:55]	What’s left after this remarkable process	这一绚丽的过程之后剩下的
[43:59]	is a remnant.	就是残骸
[44:04]	The star is ready to enter the next	恒星即将进入它一生的
[44:07]	enigmatic phase of its life.	下一个神秘的阶段
[44:27]	White Dwarfs baffled astronomers for decades.	白矮星曾让科学家困惑了好几十年
[44:32]	The first problem was finding them.	首要的问题就是找到它们
[44:39]	It turned out they’d been hidden in plain sight.	其实它们就藏在我们眼前
[44:44]	We just needed a bigger telescope to see them.	只是我们需要一个更大的望远镜去找到它们
[44:49]	The winter sky in the northern hemisphere	北半球冬季的夜空中
[44:51]	brings a set of fantastic constellations.	有着许多神奇的星座
[44:53]	Like this one, Canis Major.	比如这个大犬星座
[44:57]	Canis Major contains the brightest star in the night sky.	大犬星座有着夜空中最亮的恒星
[45:01]	It’s called Sirius.	叫做天狼星
[45:08]	A lovely star, also known as the Dog Star.	它是颗漂亮的恒星也叫做大犬星
[45:16]	And it was discovered in the 19th century,	在十九世纪
[45:19]	when the telescopes were really, really high quality	随着望远镜质量的不断提高
[45:22]	that Sirius has a companion,	科学家发现天狼星有一颗伴星
[45:25]	a very faint companion that is lost	被主星明亮的光辉
[45:28]	in the glare of the very bright star.	掩盖了的黯淡的伴星
[45:33]	This tiny companion to the bright Dog Star was dubbed the Pup.	这颗大犬星的伴星被戏称为”小狗”
[45:39]	And by 1922,	在1922年
[45:41]	this new type of star had an official classification.	这种新型的恒星有了正式命名
[45:44]	It was called a White Dwarf.	叫做白矮星
[45:52]	But naming it was the least of scientists’ problems.	但是科学家们并不在意如何命名
[45:57]	When they compared its size to its mass,	当比较了它的大小和质量时
[46:00]	something extraordinary emerged.	却得到了意想不到的结果
[46:02]	It was denser than anything on Earth,	它的密度比地球上的任何东西都要大
[46:05]	denser than anything previously imagined.	比之前想象的任何东西都要大
[46:11]	They were a type of star that shouldn’t exist.	它们根本就是种不该存在的恒星
[46:16]	The burnt-out remains of one whose fusion has stopped.	它的核聚变已经停止剩下的不过是残骸
[46:22]	Their fuel is exhausted, so how can they still shine?	燃料都已耗尽了它们是如何发光的呢
[46:30]	Mysteries that have long intrigued Professor John Ellis.	这个疑团困扰了约翰·埃利斯教授很久
[46:36]	Throughout their lives, stars make their energy	纵观其一生恒星都在通过
[46:39]	by fusing together light nuclei to make heavier ones.	让轻原子核聚变成更重的原子核来产生能量
[46:39]		约翰·埃利斯教授伦敦国王学院理论物理学家
[46:44]	They start off with hydrogen and they make helium,	它们先是把氢聚变成氦
[46:47]	then they go on to fuse together helium	然后它们继续聚变氦核
[46:49]	to make carbon and oxygen.	产生碳和氧
[46:53]	And as time goes on,	随着时间推移
[46:54]	they burn up more and more of this fuel	它们消耗了越来越多的燃料
[46:56]	until, eventually, it’s like a car, you run out of gas.	最终就像汽车一样没油了
[47:03]	With its helium-burning days at an end,	随着氦燃烧的结束
[47:05]	the White Dwarf’s active life is over.	白矮星的活动也停止了
[47:10]	All it’s left with is a dead core of carbon and oxygen.	剩下的只有由碳和氧组成的死去的内核
[47:16]	It’s not really a star at all but a cinder.	这已经不算是恒星了不过是灰烬罢了
[47:22]	And the internal battle raging in the heart of the star,	而在恒星内部发生的
[47:25]	between gravity and fusion, now has a clear victor.	引力与聚变的战斗现在已见分晓
[47:30]	Once the fusion stops,	一旦聚变停止
[47:32]	the whole thing collapses under its own weight	恒星在自身引力作用下塌缩
[47:35]	to form a White Dwarf.	形成白矮星
[47:39]	So you’ve got this very small blob, which is incredibly dense.	成为一颗密度大得难以想象的小型天体
[47:44]	It’s going to be something like a million times denser	将会比它最初时的密度
[47:47]	than it started off,	高数百万倍
[47:49]	so dense, in fact,	非常非常密
[47:50]	that if you had a piece the size of my mobile phone,	要是有跟我手机那么大的一块
[47:55]	it would weigh something like ten tonnes.	可能会有差不多十吨重
[48:02]	The core of the massive Red Giant collapses,	巨大的红巨星其内核塌缩
[48:07]	leaving the White Dwarf denser than anything	使得白矮星的密度
[48:10]	that had previously been discovered.	比之前发现的任何东西都要高
[48:16]	This raises another perplexing question.	这又产生了另一个让人困惑问题
[48:22]	Why doesn’t gravity completely destroy them?	为什么引力没能完全毁掉它们呢
[48:27]	They were such baffling objects	它们真是谜一样的东西
[48:29]	that one British astronomer commented,	曾有一名英国天文学家评论道
[48:32]	“An appropriate response to the message from a White Dwarf was	“要是能给白矮星回条信息的话
[48:36]	‘Shut up, don’t talk nonsense.’ “	“最合适的一定是 ‘闭嘴别瞎说'”
[48:45]	It took a whole new revolutionary form of physics to emerge	直到物理学有了革命性的重大进步
[48:49]	before their secrets could be unravelled.	这些谜团才被解开
[48:54]	Quantum mechanics revealed much more	量子力学更好地揭示了
[48:57]	about the innards of atoms,	原子的内部结构
[49:00]	enabling astronomers to	使得天文学家们
[49:02]	begin to solve the mystery of the White Dwarf.	开始破解白矮星的秘密
[49:06]	In physics, we’ve got two different types of particles.	在物理学中我们有两种不同的粒子
[49:09]	There are some particles that are very gregarious,	有一种是喜欢抱团的粒子
[49:12]	that like to get together,	喜欢聚在一起
[49:13]	and then we’ve got other particles,	而另一种粒子
[49:15]	like the electron,	例如电子
[49:16]	which like to be different from each other.	就喜欢彼此分开来
[49:20]	They’re a little bit like people at a party	它们就像在宴会上
[49:22]	who are wearing the same colour dress.	撞衫了的人
[49:24]	They don’t want to be standing next to each other,	它们不喜欢呆在彼此的周围
[49:27]	so they’re going to tend to naturally push away from each other.	所以它们会自然地拉开彼此间的距离
[49:33]	That’s…that’s like what we physicists call pressure.	这就有点像物理学家说的压力
[49:37]	This pressure is created as the particles jostle for position.	这个压力来自于粒子间互相争抢位置
[49:44]	It’s a principle of quantum mechanics,	这是量子力学的原理
[49:47]	and when it was applied to stars,	当将其应用到恒星上时
[49:49]	the lives of dead White Dwarfs suddenly made sense.	死亡白矮星的存在也就说得通了
[49:54]	What stopped them collapsing completely	阻止它们完全坍缩的原因
[49:56]	was that gravity was resisted by the pressure generated	就是粒子间产生了压力
[50:00]	between the particles themselves.	抵抗了引力的作用
[50:04]	In a White Dwarf,	在白矮星中
[50:05]	you’ve got a delicate balance between the gravity	引力与压力有着微妙的平衡
[50:08]	which is trying to squeeze it together,	引力想要把它压成一团
[50:10]	and the pressure of these electrons trying not to	而电子不想呆在一块儿
[50:14]	all have their dresses in the same place,	产生了压力
[50:16]	that are trying to push out.	试图往外推
[50:18]	And it’s the balance between this gravity pulling in	正是二者间的平衡引力向内拉
[50:21]	and the electrons pushing out	电子向外推
[50:23]	that keeps the White Dwarf the size it is.	才使得白矮星成了现在的大小
[50:28]	It’s also what lets a star with no fuel supply	这也让一颗耗尽了燃料的恒星
[50:31]	shine for billions of years.	继续发光几十亿年
[50:38]	These White Dwarfs are very small,	这些白矮星非常小
[50:40]	so they’ve got a very small surface area,	所以它们的表面积也非常小
[50:42]	which means that although they are white hot,	就是说虽然它们是白色的温度高
[50:44]	the light that they emit, the heat energy which they send out,	但是它们发出的光和热
[50:49]	is still very limited just	依然十分有限
[50:50]	because of the very small size of the surface.	因为表面积太小了
[50:53]	Now, it carries on radiating light	如今它继续发光
[50:57]	and it gradually cools down,	并逐渐冷却下来
[50:59]	it gradually gets dimmer and dimmer.	变得越来越黯淡
[51:03]	It’s a little bit like a	有点像
[51:05]	retired person sitting in an old stars’ home.	退休的老恒星待在恒星养老院里
[51:09]	It’s still, you know, ticking along,	它仍然活着
[51:10]	but it gradually gets	但渐渐变得
[51:12]	sort of slower and slower, dimmer and dimmer.	越发迟缓越发黯淡
[51:17]	There are White Dwarfs	这些白矮星
[51:18]	cluttering up our galaxy, all the other galaxies.	遍布我们的银河系以及其它所有星系
[51:26]	The enigma of the White Dwarf had been resolved.	白矮星的谜团已被解开
[51:32]	Scientists had discovered how the vast majority of stars,	科学家已经知道绝大多数的恒星
[51:36]	including our own Sun, will end their days.	包括我们的太阳是如何走向死亡的
[51:42]	As White Dwarfs gently fading into the darkness of the universe.	成为白矮星渐渐消逝在宇宙的黑暗中
[51:51]	But not all stars go so quietly.	但并不是所有的恒星都走得无声无息
[51:57]	For the most massive stars, something extraordinary happens.	大多数的大质量恒星则是轰轰烈烈
[52:02]	They make their exit with one last spectacular hurrah.	它们用最后一次呐喊宣告自己的退场
[52:21]	Supernovae are the explosive, dramatic death throes	超新星是宇宙中大多数大质量恒星
[52:25]	of the most massive stars in the universe.	爆发性的激动人心的死亡挣扎
[52:31]	Explosions so bright and intense	如此明亮和强烈的爆炸
[52:33]	that they can briefly rival the output of ten billion Suns.	可以与一百亿个太阳发出的光相媲美
[52:41]	They leave behind traces	它们留下的痕迹
[52:43]	that paint the sky with a rainbow of colours.	将天空描绘得五彩斑斓
[52:50]	Today, we know that these spectacular events	如今我们明白这些壮丽的场景
[52:53]	play a crucial role in creating the world around us.	在创造世界的过程中扮演了重要角色
[52:58]	Yet it took us centuries to discover it.	然而我们花了几个世纪才得以了解
[53:09]	They’re so rare that for hundreds of years,	它们太稀少了几百年来
[53:13]	no-one saw any at all.	谁都没看到过
[53:16]	So the first challenge was to find them.	所以首个挑战是要找到它们
[53:22]	And that takes dedication,	那就需要奉献精神
[53:24]	perseverance and a love of the thrill of the chase.	坚持不懈和热爱追逐带来的激动
[53:29]	Not just any kind of astronomer but a supernova hunter	不是普通的天文学家而且是超新星猎人
[53:34]	and one with perfect timing.	还要有完美的时机
[53:38]	You know, usually nothing much happens in astronomy.	你要知道天文学上经常没什么事情发生
[53:42]	Stars live for millions or billions of years,	恒星能活上几百万甚至几十亿年
[53:42]		亚历克斯·菲利潘科教授天体物理学家加州伯克利大学
[53:45]	so everything’s the same from one night to another,	所以每个晚上都是一成不变
[53:47]	but not with a supernova.	但超新星不同
[53:49]	It brightens dramatically over the course of just one night.	它会在一夜之间突然变亮
[53:52]	It happens on a human timescale.	我们可以看到它的变化
[53:58]	Supernovae are so rarely seen in our own galaxy, the Milky Way,	超新星在我们的星系银河系中十分罕见
[54:03]	that you need to peer much, much further to find many more.	你要看得更远才能多找到一些
[54:10]	You need to hunt for them in other galaxies.	你要在其它星系寻找它们
[54:18]	Professor Alex Filippenko runs one of	亚历克斯·菲利潘科教授管理着
[54:21]	the most successful search teams on Earth for doing just that.	地球上最成功的搜索小组致力于此
[54:27]	In their best year, they discovered almost 100.	最成功的一年他们发现了近一百颗
[54:34]	There’s no calendar telling you	没有日程表告诉你
[54:36]	where and when to look for supernovae.	何时何地去寻找超新星
[54:38]	You just look kind of randomly at as many galaxies as you can, repeatedly,	只是随机地尽量多的反复观测星系
[54:43]	and occasionally a supernova will go off in one of them.	忽然之间有一颗超新星爆发了
[54:52]	I mean, they’re rare,	它们真的很稀少
[54:53]	only two or three supernovae per galaxy per century,	每个星系每个世纪只有两三颗超新星
[54:57]	so you really have to scan thousands of galaxies	必须扫描成千上万的星系
[55:00]	in order to increase your odds of finding a few each year.	才能增加每年找到几颗的几率
[55:08]	This robotic telescope automatically	这台自动望远镜
[55:10]	takes pictures of over 1,000 galaxies a night,	夜间能自动对一千多个星系进行成像
[55:13]	and it compares those new pictures	然后它将这些新的照片
[55:15]	with pictures of the same galaxies it had taken previously.	与同一星系的旧照片进行对比
[55:19]	If there’s something new in one of the new pictures,	如果哪张新照片有新发现
[55:22]	like a new star, that’s an excellent candidate supernova.	比如说新的恒星那就极可能是颗超新星
[55:26]	That’s the kind of thing that we want to keep studying.	这便是我们不断研究的东西
[55:36]	The supernovae that Alex photographs	亚历克斯拍摄的超新星
[55:39]	are hundreds of millions of light years away.	在亿万光年之外
[55:47]	The only reason he can photograph them so distinctly	能这么清晰地到唯一的原因就是
[55:51]	is because they are such colossal explosions.	爆发非常剧烈
[56:00]	And appreciating the power of a supernova’s explosion	估量超新星爆发的能量
[56:03]	has been key to understanding the very composition	对了解宇宙的组成
[56:06]	of the universe.	至关重要
[56:17]	For centuries, scientists have known	几百年来科学家探索出
[56:19]	that everything we see on Earth is made up of 92 elements.	地球上的万物是由92种元素组成的
[56:27]	And the stars are made of the very same ones.	恒星也由同样的元素构成
[56:32]	We can see it in their starlight.	通过星光我们能分辨出它们
[56:37]	Different elements give off different colours of light	不同的元素会发出不同颜色的光
[56:40]	when they’re heated, when they’re energised.	在它们被加热获得能量的时候
[56:42]	So if we look at a glowing cloud of gas in the sky,	所以我们看着星空中发光的云
[56:46]	we can determine what chemical elements it’s made from	只要看它是什么颜色就能确定
[56:48]	by seeing what colours it has.	它是由何种化学元素组成的
[56:51]	Potassium should produce a violet colour. Oh, look at that!	钾元素会发出紫色看
[56:57]	Strontium.	锶元素
[57:00]	Whoa, look at the strontium go!	快看锶元素的颜色
[57:02]	Sodium, a bit like the light of the flames.	钠元素有点像火焰发出的光
[57:07]	And, finally, I’ve got some copper here.	最后我还有一些铜元素
[57:13]	Look at the remnant of a supernova,	看看那些超新星的残骸
[57:16]	and you can spot the signature colours of some elements.	就能认出一些元素的特征颜色
[57:22]	Modern scientists can reveal the full story	现代科学家用棱镜分解光得到光谱
[57:25]	by splitting the light with a prism to create a spectrum.	就能了解一切
[57:30]	And so I can see that there’s	可以看到
[57:32]	hydrogen being produced by this supernova,	超新星抛出了氢
[57:35]	and over here, the yellow/orange light	在这儿黄橙光
[57:37]	is due to glowing atoms of sodium.	来自于发光的钠原子
[57:40]	It’s the same sodium glow that we saw	与我撒到火焰上的化学物质
[57:43]	when I sprinkled the chemical into the fire.	发出的光是相同的
[57:45]	These ones here, in the green part, are iron,	绿光中的谱线是铁元素
[57:48]	and down here, in the violet part of the spectrum, is calcium.	光谱紫光部分的谱线是钙元素
[57:58]	The question that baffled scientists for decades, though,	然而困扰科学家数十年的疑问是
[58:02]	was where did all the elements come from?	这些元素是从何而来
[58:11]	The breakthrough came from the mind of a doughty Yorkshireman,	一位勇敢的约克郡人获得了重大突破
[58:17]	Fred Hoyle.	弗雷德·霍伊尔
[58:21]	The origin of the elements was a big question	元素的起源是个大问题
[58:24]	that scientists were trying to tackle 50 years ago,	半个世纪前科学家就试图解决
[58:26]	and Fred Hoyle and his colleagues thought	弗雷德·霍伊尔及其同事相信
[58:29]	that supernovae may be a key to unravelling the mystery.	超新星可能是解决谜题的关键
[58:35]	At the time, this was a radical idea.	这个想法超越了那个时代
[58:42]	But Fred Hoyle was never a stranger to controversy.	但弗雷德·霍伊尔身上从来不缺乏争议
[58:47]	‘Fred Hoyle blows up stars by computer.	弗雷德·霍伊尔用电脑模拟恒星爆发
[58:51]	‘This cosmic anarchist is the most controversial of theorists.’	这位宇宙无政府主义者是理论界最具争议的人
[58:54]	If you think there’s a mystery about why stars explode,	如果你认为恒星爆发的原因是个谜
[58:59]	then you’ve got it all wrong.	那就大错特错了
[59:03]	Hoyle devoted ten years of his career	霍伊尔花了十年的时间
[59:06]	to proving his revolutionary theory	来证明元素起源的
[59:08]	on the origin of the elements.	革命性理论
[59:15]	He deduced that Red Giants are alchemists,	他推断红巨星是炼金术士
[59:19]	but he knew that they weren’t hot enough	但他深知它们温度不够高
[59:21]	to create all the elements.	不足以创造出所有的元素
[59:30]	He thought the ferocity of the supernova’s explosion, though,	但他认为猛烈的超新星爆发
[59:33]	would make them the perfect furnace	形成了绝佳的熔炉
[59:37]	and, with his colleagues, he did the calculations to prove it.	他和同事们用运算来证明这个理论
[59:44]	The key was the conditions created in the final stages	关键在于大质量恒星对抗引力的最后阶段
[59:48]	of a massive star’s fight against gravity.	创造了几个条件
[59:53]	These stars are so massive and hot	这些恒星巨大温度高
[59:56]	that they can go through a whole series of nuclear reactions.	能够进行一系列的核聚变
[1:00:00]	The ashes of one set of nuclear reactions	一轮核聚变后剩下的灰烬
[1:00:03]	becomes the fuel for the next set of nuclear reactions.	成为下一轮核聚变的燃料
[1:00:10]	The most massive stars	质量最大的恒星
[1:00:11]	are able to fuse heavier and heavier elements in a series of layers,	可以一层层聚变越来越重的元素
[1:00:18]	creating the energy to	并产生能量
[1:00:19]	resist the relentless inward pull of gravity.	抵抗不断内向拉的引力
[1:00:25]	There is neon and magnesium and more oxygen.	先是氖镁和大量的氧
[1:00:28]	Then there’s silicon and sulphur	接着是硅和硫
[1:00:31]	and, finally, in the middle, a core of iron.	最后在中央是铁组成的核
[1:00:36]	And that’s where the fusion stops.	那里是聚变停止的地方
[1:00:40]	With fusion at an end, there’s no more energy to fight back,	聚变结束没有能量再抵抗了
[1:00:46]	and gravity wins the battle.	于是引力获胜
[1:00:50]	The star is doomed.	恒星在劫难逃
[1:00:53]	When that ball of iron reaches a certain critical mass,	当铁核达到临界质量时
[1:00:57]	about the size of the Earth, but much, much more massive,	大约是地球这么大但要重得多
[1:01:00]	the electron pressure is no longer able to support it	电子间的压力无法再支撑它
[1:01:04]	against the inward force of gravity, so it starts to collapse.	抵抗向内的引力于是恒星开始塌缩
[1:01:08]	It collapses to a ball about the size of a city	塌缩至一座城市这么大的球
[1:01:12]	and then rebounds	然后反弹
[1:01:13]	and that rebounds hits the surrounding layers,	反弹撞击到周围圈层
[1:01:17]	launching a supernova explosion.	点燃了一次超新星爆发
[1:01:24]	It’s the speed and violence	恒星铁核
[1:01:25]	of the collapse of the star’s iron core	快速而猛烈的塌缩
[1:01:28]	that triggers the supernova,	触发了超新星
[1:01:30]	an implosion that launches an explosion…	内爆引发了向外爆发
[1:01:35]	creating enough heat and energy	提供了足够的温度和能量
[1:01:37]	to forge almost all the other elements.	锻造出几乎所有其他的元素
[1:01:43]	The supernova explosion is able to produce	超新星爆发能够产生
[1:01:46]	some of the very rare elements heavier than iron –	某些比铁元素更重的稀有元素
[1:01:49]	the zinc, the gold, the platinum, the silver.	锌金铂银
[1:01:52]	These things are ejected into the cosmos,	它们被抛射到宇宙中
[1:01:55]	having produced them in these very special conditions	在恒星爆发后的极端条件下
[1:01:59]	of an exploded star.	创造出了它们
[1:02:04]	The very atoms of which we are made, the oxygen that we breathe,	构成人类的原子呼吸的氧气
[1:02:08]	the calcium in our bones,	骨骼里的钙元素
[1:02:10]	the iron in our red blood cells,	红细胞里的铁元素
[1:02:12]	were produced billions of years ago	都是数十亿年前
[1:02:14]	in stars, specifically in dying stars,	从恒星特别是垂死的恒星中产生的
[1:02:17]	and these dying stars ejected these elements into the cosmos,	这些垂死的恒星把元素抛射到宇宙中
[1:02:21]	making them available for raw material	使它们成为
[1:02:24]	for the production of new stars, planets,	新恒星新行星的原料
[1:02:27]	and ultimately, life.	最终成为生命的原料
[1:02:35]	We are stardust	你我皆是星尘
[1:02:38]	or rather, less romantically,	或者不那么浪漫地说
[1:02:40]	nuclear waste.	是核废料
[1:02:44]	In a way, the ancients were right.	在某种程度上古人诚不我欺
[1:02:49]	The stars ARE like gods.	恒星就像上帝
[1:02:54]	They are the creators of us.	它们是造物主
[1:03:01]	To make our Earth,	形成我们的地球
[1:03:03]	several hundred generations of stars needed to come and go.	需要几百代的恒星诞生死亡
[1:03:17]	Stars born from collapsing clouds of dust and gas.	尘埃和气体云塌缩产生了恒星
[1:03:23]	Bursting into life, to shine for millions or billions of years.	点燃生命之火闪耀几百万甚至几十亿年
[1:03:32]	Bloating in old age to become Red Giants.	晚年膨胀成为红巨星
[1:03:39]	Their cores contracting into White Dwarfs.	它们的内核收缩变成了白矮星
[1:03:46]	The most massive ones exploding as supernovae,	质量最大的恒星爆发成为超新星
[1:03:50]	flinging the elements they’ve created out into space	将它们制造出的元素抛射到宇宙深处
[1:03:54]	to form the materials for the next generation of stars.	这些元素将成为孕育下一代恒星的原材料
[1:04:01]	But that’s not the end of the story.	但那远远不是故事的终结
[1:04:08]	Supernovae may look like the death of a star,	超新星看上去像是恒星的魂归之地
[1:04:12]	but for some, there is life beyond the grave.	但是对一些恒星来说生命仍将继续
[1:04:17]	Understanding that took a particular breed of scientist.	了解它们需要依靠一群特别的科学家
[1:04:25]	They probed deep into their own imagination	他们不断挑战着自己的想象力
[1:04:28]	and a world of calculations.	并身陷在浩瀚的计算之中
[1:04:33]	And what they found there were predictions	他们的成果预言出了
[1:04:35]	of objects so bizarre, so weird,	一种如此奇异超乎想象的天体
[1:04:38]	that we’re only beginning to understand them.	我们对它们的了解才刚刚开始
[1:04:42]	In the process,	在这个过程中
[1:04:44]	unravelling even deeper secrets about the universe.	我们还解开了宇宙中更深层的秘密
[1:05:02]	The faintest of signals picked up from deepest space	从宇宙中接收到的最微弱的信号
[1:05:06]	have revealed to modern scientists exotic stellar tombstones.	让现代科学家发现了这奇异的恒星墓碑
[1:05:14]	Tombstones first predicted	对墓碑的最早预测
[1:05:16]	in the theoretical calculations of the maverick Swiss astronomer	来自一位前卫的挪威天文学家的理论计算
[1:05:20]	Fritz Zwicky,	弗里茨·兹威基
[1:05:21]	more than 80 years ago.	早在80多年之前
[1:05:27]	He was sure that when a supernova exploded,	他坚信超新星爆发后
[1:05:31]	it left behind a kernel so dense	它留下的内核十分致密
[1:05:34]	that a cupful would be as heavy as a mountain.	一杯物质就会像山一样重
[1:05:39]	He called it a neutron star.	他称之为中子星
[1:05:45]	It seemed so preposterous that Zwicky’s ideas were dismissed.	他的想法看上去很荒谬被人抛诸脑后
[1:05:51]	Until, that is, a new way of scouring the heavens emerged –	直到一种探索宇宙的新方式出现
[1:05:56]	radio astronomy.	那就是射电天文学
[1:06:09]	In 1967, the fledgling discipline	1967年这个刚起步的学科
[1:06:12]	picked up a strange repetitive message from outer space.	从太空接收到了一组重复出现的奇怪信息
[1:06:18]	Now, the people here say	现在人们认为
[1:06:20]	that if they got three signals as exactly spaced as that,	接收到三个时间间隔相等的信号
[1:06:24]	it would be very unusual.	是很不常见的
[1:06:26]	If they got four, it would be phenomenal.	而如果接收到了四个那就是异常的
[1:06:29]	Well, they’ve had pulses	自十一月以来
[1:06:30]	as exactly spaced as that 24 hours of the day	我们接收到了时间间隔
[1:06:33]	since November.	完全相等的信号
[1:06:37]	These pulses were so exact and predictable in their pattern	这些脉冲十分精确其规律也可被预测
[1:06:41]	that scientists even considered aliens as their source.	科学家甚至认为它们是外星人发出的信号
[1:06:47]	It turned out	事实证明
[1:06:48]	they were being transmitted by something equally unlikely	它们的发射源与外星人一样令人难以置信
[1:06:52]	and just as unfamiliar.	且不为人们所知
[1:06:55]	The most important question of all – what are they?	最重要的一个问题就是那是什么
[1:06:58]	Well, we know that they’re very small.	我们知道的是它们很小
[1:07:01]	They’re objects about the size of a planet.	这些物体的大小与行星相仿
[1:07:03]	We know also that they are very energetic	我们还知道它们能量很高
[1:07:05]	and that the source of energy must be far greater	远远超过一颗行星
[1:07:07]	than a planet could really provide.	所能提供的能源
[1:07:09]	It must be something like a star	它肯定是类似恒星的天体
[1:07:11]	compressed into a volume the size of a planet.	被压缩到行星的大小
[1:07:18]	Scientists worked out that the new star had to be denser	科学家研究发现这种新恒星的密度
[1:07:22]	than any type previously discovered.	比以往发现的任何天体都要高
[1:07:26]	Could these be the neutron stars predicted by Zwicky?	这是否就是兹威基所预测的中子星
[1:07:32]	Astronomers nicknamed them pulsars	天文学家戏称其为脉冲星
[1:07:35]	and immediately set their telescopes,	并立刻准备好他们的望远镜
[1:07:38]	searching for further clues about them.	搜寻关于它们的其他线索
[1:07:47]	Just a year later, they found one,	仅仅一年以后他们发现了一颗
[1:07:50]	in the perfect place to put Zwicky’s theory to the test.	可以完美地对兹威基的理论进行检验
[1:07:57]	In the winter,	冬天
[1:07:58]	we have access to the beautiful part of the sky	我们可以看到星空中最绚丽的部分
[1:07:59]		弗朗西斯科·迭戈博士天文学家伦敦大学学院
[1:08:01]	that contains the constellation of Taurus, the Bull.	其中包括金牛座
[1:08:05]	Here we have the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters,	这里看到的是昴星团即七姊妹星团
[1:08:08]	down here we have another cluster of the stars,	下面是另一个星团
[1:08:10]	which are the Hyades,	毕星团
[1:08:11]	that contain the bright star Aldebaran,	其中包括这颗明亮的恒星毕宿五
[1:08:14]	the angry eye of the bull.	金牛愤怒的眼睛
[1:08:16]	And if we follow from Aldebaran in this direction	如果我们沿着毕宿五的这个方向
[1:08:19]	towards that star there, just about there,	指向那边的那颗恒星就在那里
[1:08:22]	we will find the closest pulsar to the solar system,	我们会发现距离太阳系最近的一颗脉冲星
[1:08:27]	the Crab Pulsar.	蟹状星云脉冲星
[1:08:31]	What particularly excited	当科学家们发现
[1:08:32]	scientists when they discovered the Crab Pulsar	蟹状星云脉冲星时最让他们激动的
[1:08:37]	was that it was buried deep within the remains of a supernova.	是它正好位于一颗超新星爆发后的遗骸中
[1:08:43]	In this amazing picture,	在这张令人惊叹的图像中
[1:08:44]	we see the remnant of a supernova explosion,	我们看到的是超新星爆发后的残骸
[1:08:48]	but when we scan the central part of this nebula,	但是当我们扫描这个星云的中心位置时
[1:08:52]	we find the pulsar,	我们发现了这颗脉冲星
[1:08:54]	which is the remnant of the core of the star that exploded.	它就是恒星爆发后残留下来的内核
[1:09:02]	Now that a pulsar was definitively connected to a supernova,	这证明脉冲星显然与超新星有关
[1:09:08]	scientists realised that they had discovered	科学家们意识到他们发现了
[1:09:11]	another of the seven ages of starlight.	恒星生命历程中的另一个新阶段
[1:09:22]	It showed Swiss astronomer Zwicky was correct all along.	它说明挪威天文学家兹威基一直都是对的
[1:09:26]	His theoretical equations predicted how a supernova	他的理论公式预测了一颗超新星
[1:09:31]	could leave behind such a dense remnant.	如何在爆炸后还留下这样致密的残骸
[1:09:36]	The calculations focused on a strange quality of all matter.	计算致力于所有物质的一项特殊性质
[1:09:42]	It’s one that defies common sense	这个性质与常识相违背
[1:09:45]	but is fundamental to the work of astrophysicists	但它却成为了天体物理学家工作的基础
[1:09:49]	like Professor Doug Leonard.	例如道格·伦纳德教授
[1:09:52]	Solidity is an illusion.	所谓固体不过是幻觉
[1:09:55]	If I run up with my fist and	如果我挥舞拳头
[1:09:57]		道格·伦纳德教授天体物理学家圣地亚哥州立大学
[1:09:57]	punch a brick wall, it will hurt like heck,	击打砖墙我会感到十分疼
[1:10:00]	but, essentially, my fist and the wall	但是事实上我的拳头和墙
[1:10:03]	are almost entirely empty space.	几乎全部都是真空
[1:10:08]	The illusion comes because we’re made out of atoms,	幻觉的产生是因为我们都由原子组成
[1:10:11]	the fundamental building blocks of matter,	它们是物质最基本的砖石
[1:10:14]	and most of what an atom is is empty space.	而原子基本上就是真空
[1:10:19]	So, if this is an atomic nucleus containing the protons and neutrons,	如果这是一个包括中子和质子的原子核
[1:10:24]	the electrons would be roughly	那么电子大概就会在
[1:10:26]	where those buildings are in the background.	背后那群建筑所在的地方
[1:10:32]	Zwicky predicted	兹威基预测
[1:10:33]	the one thing violent enough to ram together atomic particles	伴随着超新星爆发大质量恒星塌缩
[1:10:37]	and fill all this empty space	释放的能量
[1:10:40]	is the collapse of a massive star during a supernova.	足以将原子挤到一起填满所有的空间
[1:10:45]	A collapse that happens in a matter of seconds.	这个塌缩就发生在仅仅数秒之内
[1:10:51]	In a supernova,	在超新星中
[1:10:52]	the very first thing that happens is the iron core implodes,	最先发生的是铁核的内爆
[1:10:56]	from something about the size of the Earth	将从地球大小
[1:10:58]	down to something the size of a small city,	压缩到仅仅一个小城市的规模
[1:11:00]	and in that implosion, the densities become so high	在内爆过程中密度将变得十分高
[1:11:04]	that the protons and the electrons get squeezed together	以至于质子和电子被挤到了一起
[1:11:07]	to form neutrons.	并形成了中子
[1:11:11]	And, essentially,	同时重要的是
[1:11:13]	all the air of the atoms gets squeezed out of it,	原子中的空隙被挤出
[1:11:16]	and what you’re left with at the end is a ball of neutrons,	而最终剩下的就是一个由中子组成的球
[1:11:20]	an incredibly dense object that we call a neutron star.	它极其致密被我们称为中子星
[1:11:28]	And as the neutron star formed, its magnetic field intensified.	中子星形成的过程中它的磁场增强
[1:11:37]	And became billions of times stronger than our Sun’s.	其强度是太阳磁场的数十亿倍
[1:11:43]	Now, as the star span,	随着中子星的旋转
[1:11:46]	it channelled out radio signals from its north and south poles.	它的南北极将发射出无线信号
[1:11:55]	Signals that swept past Earth with every rotation of the star.	它每旋转一圈信号都会扫过地球
[1:12:03]	This was the source of the mysterious pulses.	这就是神秘脉冲的来源
[1:12:08]	Some are so regular that pulsars	这脉冲极其规律因此脉冲星
[1:12:11]	are among the most accurate clocks in the universe.	成为了宇宙中最精确的钟表之一
[1:12:18]	The discovery of neutron stars	中子星的发现
[1:12:20]	was a vindication of the power of theoretical physics.	有力地证明了理论物理的力量
[1:12:26]	It set astronomers wondering	它使得天文学家们开始思考
[1:12:28]	if other strange bodies that had been predicted	其他被理论预测的奇怪天体
[1:12:31]	could be lurking in space.	是否也正在宇宙中游荡
[1:12:36]	And there was one hypothetical object	其中有一种理论上的天体
[1:12:38]	that was even weirder than a neutron star.	甚至比中子星更加怪异
[1:12:59]	The last stage of a star’s life	恒星生命的最后阶段
[1:13:02]	is as much an idea of science fiction as a physical reality.	比起现实世界更像是科幻小说中的想象
[1:13:09]	Put forward by science writer Adrian Berry in his book The Iron Sun,	科普作家亚德连·贝利在《铁太阳》一书中
[1:13:12]	the suggestion is that, in the future, man could use black holes	提出未来人类可以利用黑洞
[1:13:15]	to transport himself instantly around the universe,	快速地往来于宇宙之中
[1:13:19]	and when I say instantly, I really mean like that.	而我说的快速就有这么快
[1:13:24]	For years, most scientists	一直以来大多数科学家
[1:13:26]	dismissed black holes as fanciful conjecture.	不屑地将黑洞视为异想天开
[1:13:31]	They were apparently nonsensical structures of space and time,	它们的时空结构显然是不合理的
[1:13:35]	spat out when Albert Einstein’s equations	阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦的公式在极端情况下
[1:13:38]	were taken to their extreme conclusion.	黑洞才可能出现
[1:13:41]	Einstein’s theory of relativity does lead us	爱因斯坦的相对论确实将我们引上了
[1:13:43]	into very strange and unfamiliar paths.	奇异而陌生的方向
[1:13:48]	Einstein himself didn’t believe in black holes.	爱因斯坦本人并不相信黑洞的存在
[1:13:53]	But in our search to understand them,	但当我们试图去理解它们时
[1:13:55]	we might have found a clue to the biggest question of all.	我们找到的线索也许能解开最大的谜题
[1:14:02]	The very origin of the universe.	宇宙的起源
[1:14:10]	It’s like there’s just a huge question mark in the sky,	这些黑洞到底藏在哪里
[1:14:13]	where one of these things exists.	就像是天上悬着的一个巨大问号
[1:14:16]	They are the most mysterious objects in space.	它们是宇宙中最神秘的天体
[1:14:22]	It’s where the equations themselves break down.	在那里公式不再有意义
[1:14:27]	Black holes are so complex, so fantastical,	黑洞是这样的复杂这样的不切实际
[1:14:32]	that even now we know they ARE real,	即使我们已经确定它们真的存在
[1:14:34]	they throw up more questions than answers.	它们却带来了更多的问题
[1:14:39]	How can they exist? They simply don’t make sense.	它们怎么可能存在这怎么都说不通
[1:14:46]	A black hole represents a spot in space	黑洞是宇宙中的一点
[1:14:49]	around which the gravity is so intense	在它周围的引力十分强
[1:14:52]	that nothing, not even light, can get away.	任何东西即使是光线也无法逃离
[1:14:57]	It’s a region bounded by something called the event horizon	这个空间的边界叫做事件视界
[1:15:00]	within which all events	在里面所有的事件
[1:15:03]	are beyond the horizon of someone outside,	都无法被外面的观察者看见
[1:15:05]	meaning they cannot see anything that’s happening inside there,	意味着没人能看到黑洞内发生的任何事件
[1:15:08]	so it’s a region of space	因此这是一个
[1:15:10]	from which no information can ever escape.	没有办法探查其中任何信息的空间
[1:15:15]	Scientists think that these extraordinary monsters in space	科学家认为宇宙中的这些怪物
[1:15:19]	are created by the death of the most massive stars.	诞生于超大质量恒星的死亡
[1:15:28]	Rare stars whose cores are so huge	极少数恒星的内核十分大
[1:15:31]	that when they collapse,	它们塌缩时
[1:15:32]	they don’t turn into a pulsar.	并不会变为脉冲星
[1:15:35]	The collapse just keeps on going.	塌缩将一直继续下去
[1:15:42]	It remains, to some extent, a theory.	直到现在它在某种程度上还只是理论
[1:15:48]	But Doug Leonard has got as close as anyone	但道格·伦纳德是当代人中
[1:15:51]	to actually seeing it happen.	最接近亲眼目睹这一过程的人
[1:15:57]	It started by getting an alert on the computer	首先电脑上设定的一个警报提醒我们
[1:16:00]	that a supernova had gone off in a very nearby galaxy,	在邻近星系中发生了超新星爆发
[1:16:03]	only 210 million light years away.	仅仅在21亿光年以外
[1:16:08]	Here’s a picture of the supernova indicated by the arrow,	图片中箭头所指就是这颗超新星
[1:16:13]	and so what we immediately did	所以我们立即开始
[1:16:15]	was trawl through the Hubble Space Telescope archives	搜索哈勃太空望远镜的数据资料
[1:16:18]	to see if we could find a picture of that exact spot in the sky	看能否找到这颗恒星爆发前
[1:16:22]	taken before the star had actually exploded,	拍摄的图像
[1:16:24]	and, as luck would have it, someone did.	幸运的是有人拍过
[1:16:30]	The image revealed that the supernova	照片显示这颗超新星
[1:16:32]	was the explosion of a star dubbed LBV-1,	是处于某个遥远星系名为LBV-1的恒星
[1:16:36]	in a distant galaxy.	产生的爆发
[1:16:43]	Doug and his team realised	道格和他的小组意识到
[1:16:45]	that they had an unprecedented opportunity.	他们得到了一个前所未有的机会
[1:16:49]	Because the star had been a super-massive one,	因为这颗恒星曾是一颗超大质量恒星
[1:16:52]	at least 50 times the mass of the Sun.	质量至少是太阳的五十倍
[1:16:58]	It was exactly the size to test out the theoretical equations.	这种大小正好适于测试理论公式
[1:17:04]	Could this possibly be the birth of a black hole?	这是否标志着一个黑洞的诞生
[1:17:11]	Two years we waited for all of the fireworks and embers	等待这颗超新星的焰火和余烬消散
[1:17:14]	of the supernova to disappear and go away,	我们花了两年时间
[1:17:17]	so that we could get a third picture	我们在超新星爆发很长时间后
[1:17:20]	long after the supernova was gone	得以拍摄第三张照片
[1:17:22]	to see if that star in fact had disappeared,	看看这颗恒星是否真的已经消失
[1:17:25]	and in fact it had.	实际上它确实消失了
[1:17:27]	It was now gone.	现在已经毫无踪影
[1:17:28]	It was an extremely luminous star,	这曾是一颗非常明亮的恒星
[1:17:30]	it blew up and now it was gone.	发生了爆发而今消失了
[1:17:37]	The evidence suggested	证据表明
[1:17:38]	that billions of tonnes of matter from a massive star	这颗大质量恒星所含的上亿吨物质
[1:17:42]	had shrunk to nothing.	已经收缩得不见踪影
[1:17:56]	So what we’re left with here is this mind-boggling idea	现在我们只能惊讶于如此巨大的质量
[1:17:59]	of mass contained in zero volume,	竟包含于无形之中
[1:18:03]	and that just makes your head spin,	这绝对让你目瞪口呆
[1:18:05]	but that’s what we call a black hole.	然而这正是我们所说的黑洞
[1:18:10]	It’s these very qualities	正是这些特性
[1:18:12]	that make some scientists think understanding black holes	使得一些科学家认为了解黑洞
[1:18:15]	could hold the key not to death	就能够掌握最早一批恒星的秘密
[1:18:18]	but to the birth of the very first stars.	不是它们的死亡而是它们的诞生
[1:18:27]	It’s really an awe-inspiring story,	这真是一个令人惊叹的故事
[1:18:30]	much more so than the classical creation myths	经典的创世神话和它比起来
[1:18:33]	that make it seem so easy.	不免相形见绌
[1:18:40]	Scientists have discovered that there’s one other place	科学家发现在另一个地方
[1:18:42]	you can find a point of infinite density and zero volume.	能找到一个无穷密度而体积为零的点
[1:18:55]	That’s at the instant the universe began,	那是在宇宙开始的瞬间
[1:19:00]	a moment studied by astronomer Dr Alan Dressler.	这正是艾伦·德雷斯勒博士的研究方向
[1:19:04]	Today, it’s scientific orthodoxy,	在今天这已被科学界认同
[1:19:07]	but it wasn’t always that way.	但事实并非一向如此
[1:19:10]	The idea that the universe had a creation event	从科学的角度来看
[1:19:11]		艾伦·德雷斯勒博士卡内基科学协会天文学家
[1:19:14]	from a scientific perspective	宇宙起源于创世事件
[1:19:15]	was a revolutionary idea.	这是一个革命性的观念
[1:19:19]	Every bit as remarkable a revolution	其革命性
[1:19:21]	as the idea that the Sun and not the Earth	与发现太阳系的中心是太阳而非地球
[1:19:25]	was the centre of the solar system.	不分伯仲
[1:19:29]	Scientists call it the Big Bang,	科学家称之为大爆炸
[1:19:34]	and it was predicted by the very same equations	这是用发现黑洞的同样公式
[1:19:37]	that discovered black holes.	预测到的
[1:19:39]	There’s the Big Bang theory according to which…	这就是大爆炸理论根据这条理论
[1:19:43]	the universe began with a gigantic fireball	一百亿年前的创世日
[1:19:46]	on creation day, some 10,000 million years ago.	宇宙起源于一个巨大的火球
[1:19:57]	It was here, at the beginning of the universe,	正是这里宇宙诞生之时
[1:20:00]	that scientists found the answer to the ultimate question	科学家发现了关于恒星生命周期的
[1:20:04]	about the lives of stars.	根本问题的答案
[1:20:11]	Where did the hydrogen to make the very first ones come from?	形成第一批恒星的氢从何而来
[1:20:18]	From this very early instant	大爆炸之初
[1:20:20]	came a primordial soup of energy and matter that had to cool	产生了原始能量和物质的浓汤它们冷却后
[1:20:25]	before it could become the elements of hydrogen and helium	形成了氢和氦而这两种元素
[1:20:28]	that made everything else in the universe we know today.	铸就了如今宇宙中我们所熟知的一切
[1:20:35]	Every hydrogen atom that fuelled every star	每一个作为恒星燃料的氢原子
[1:20:38]	was made in those first few minutes of the Big Bang.	都产生于大爆炸后的几分钟内
[1:20:45]	The extraordinary thing about the lifecycle of the stars	恒星生命循环的不凡之处在于
[1:20:49]	is that it’s revealed the origin of the universe, the elements,	它揭示了宇宙的起源元素的由来
[1:20:54]	even of us.	甚至还有我们
[1:20:59]	But that isn’t quite the end of the star story.	但这还不是恒星旅程的终点
[1:21:05]	Astronomers have discovered one other tantalising fact	天文学家仰望着漆黑的夜空时
[1:21:08]	as they’ve looked out into the dark sky.	又发现了一个令人好奇的现象
[1:21:15]	In nebulae, formed from the remnants of stars	在恒星残骸形成的星云中
[1:21:19]	and where the next generation are born,	下一代恒星正在形成
[1:21:21]	they’ve discovered the earliest stirrings of life.	科学家还发现了最原始的生命之火
[1:21:36]		艾姆斯研究中心美国航空航天局研究园
[1:21:43]	Even for NASA, nebulae are too far away to visit…	即便对于美国航空航天局星云也是遥不可及
[1:21:52]	..So they’ve built one of their own here on Earth.	因此他们在地球上创造了自己的星云
[1:21:59]	40 years ago, scientists peered into the clouds	四十年前科学家们得以窥见星云
[1:22:02]	of dust and gas created from the remains of stars	诞生于恒星残骸的尘埃和气体中
[1:22:06]	and, to their surprise,	令他们惊喜的是
[1:22:08]	found not just elements but organic molecules.	他们不仅找到了元素还找到了有机分子
[1:22:15]	I think it really is a shift in people’s thinking about this.	我认为这改变了人们的观念
[1:22:18]	50, 60 years ago, people didn’t think	五六十年前人们不会想到
[1:22:18]		斯科特·斯坦福博士美国航空航天局天文学家
[1:22:20]	space had any of this kind of molecular complexity.	太空中还有这么多种分子
[1:22:22]	Now we know it does.	现在我们知道它确实存在
[1:22:26]	Many of these molecules are organic molecules.	许多分子都是有机分子
[1:22:28]	Many of them may be complex, and, in fact,	很多都非常复杂实际上
[1:22:30]	some of them are likely to be the kinds of molecules	这其中有许多种分子
[1:22:32]	you like to have around if you want to have life get started.	是产生生命所必具的分子
[1:22:38]	Dr Scott Sandford is	斯科特·斯坦福博士
[1:22:39]	at the cutting edge of research at NASA where they’re trying to answer	试图寻找恒星特别问题的答案
[1:22:44]	an extraordinary question about stars.	其研究处于美国航空航天局的最前沿
[1:22:49]	Just how many steps towards life can be made in the nebulae	星云作为宇宙中恒星的摇篮和墓地
[1:22:53]	that are the stellar nurseries and graveyards of outer space?	在这里生命又能走到多远
[1:23:00]	What we have right now is a nice little simulation	这个是稠密星际分子云的
[1:23:03]	of an interstellar dense molecular cloud,	小型模拟装置
[1:23:05]	so this is a star formation region in a jar, basically.	这个罐子中的环境与恒星形成区类似
[1:23:09]	And now we just need to let it cook for 24 hours	现在只需让其反应24小时
[1:23:11]	and then we’ll be ready to pull the sample out	我们就能将样本取出
[1:23:13]	and see what we made.	看看产生了什么
[1:23:22]	When Scott and other scientists have analysed their results,	斯科特和其他科学家分析结果时发现
[1:23:26]	what they’ve found is that as the nebulae create stars,	星云在形成恒星的过程中
[1:23:30]	they make the building blocks of living things on Earth.	也产生了地球生命的基础成分
[1:23:37]	There’s just a whole host of compounds we make.	这里形成了许多化合物
[1:23:39]	We find that many of these compounds are very interesting,	我们发现许多化合物都非常有趣
[1:23:42]	because they play roles in life on Earth,	因为它们都在地球生命中发挥了作用
[1:23:45]	and so it’s clear we’re making many of the building blocks of life	这清楚地表明发生在太空中的这一过程
[1:23:48]	by these very processes that happen in space.	产生了生命的基石
[1:23:55]	These molecules might hold the secret	这些分子也许就隐藏着
[1:23:58]	to how life began on our planet.	我们星球上的生命如何出现的秘密
[1:24:04]	If they were part of the process,	如果它们是生命形成的一部分
[1:24:06]	they’d have to firstly get to Earth,	首先它们必须到达地球
[1:24:10]	and scientists have found a delivery system.	科学家们发现了一个传送系统
[1:24:16]	This is part of a meteorite	这是一颗从太空
[1:24:18]	that crashed from outer space to Earth in Australia.	坠入澳大利亚的陨石的一部分
[1:24:23]	In it were found many of the organic compounds	在其中找到的许多有机分子
[1:24:26]	vital to life on our planet.	对我们星球上的生命至关重要
[1:24:29]	The amino acids in this meteorite	这颗陨石中的氨基酸
[1:24:31]	predate the arrival of this meteorite to the Earth,	在陨石坠落地球之前就已经存在
[1:24:34]	so in fact these amino acids	因此实际上这些氨基酸
[1:24:35]	had to have been made in space in some environment,	一定是在太空中的某种环境下产生的
[1:24:38]	and so amino acids do exist out there in space	所以氨基酸一定存在于太空中
[1:24:41]	and they do get delivered to planets.	然后被送到了行星上
[1:24:45]	Perhaps life didn’t have to start from scratch here on Earth.	也许生命并非要从地球上从零开始
[1:24:49]	Could the building blocks have been scattered from space?	这些生命的砖石能否由太空散播而来
[1:24:54]	We don’t know if the origin of life on the Earth	我们不知道地球上最初的生命
[1:24:56]	owes its existence to these kinds of materials	是否有这些
[1:24:58]	being delivered from space,	来自太空的物质
[1:24:59]	because we don’t understand how life got started.	因为我们不了解生命的起源
[1:25:01]	However, the analogy I would use is that	我打个比方
[1:25:03]	if you’re trying to build a Lego castle,	如果你想建一座乐高城堡
[1:25:05]	it’s probably a lot easier if Legos fall out of the sky on you	乐高积木能从天而降
[1:25:08]	than if you have to build Lego blocks from scratch	要比你自己制造乐高积木
[1:25:10]	and then make your Lego castle.	要容易得多
[1:25:13]	And if those Lego pieces were available to Earth,	如果这些乐高积木在地球上可以找到
[1:25:17]	they could be available to planets orbiting other stars.	也可以出现在环绕其他恒星的行星上
[1:25:22]	Well, given that we know that just about anywhere you make stars,	我们已经知道无论在哪里形成恒星
[1:25:24]	you’re going to make these Lego blocks,	都可以产生这些乐高积木
[1:25:26]	and the fact that there are a huge number of environments	实际上乐高积木
[1:25:29]	where these Lego blocks will be delivered,	可能被送至很多地方
[1:25:31]	I personally would be quite surprised	如果地球之外不存在生命
[1:25:33]	if there isn’t other life out there.	我将会非常惊讶
[1:25:39]	We may never know for sure whether there is life elsewhere.	也许我们永远不能确定其他地方是否存在生命
[1:25:46]	But we do know a lot about where we came from.	但我们已经深知我们来自何方
[1:25:54]	And that’s because we’ve learnt so much	而那是因为通过仰望太空
[1:25:56]	about things here on Earth	我们已经了解了许多
[1:26:00]	from looking far out into space.	地球上的事物
[1:26:07]	The discovery that stars are not eternal,	发现恒星并非是永恒的
[1:26:10]	that they actually have their birth,	发现了它们会诞生
[1:26:13]	their lives and they eventually die,	度过一生最终走向死亡
[1:26:17]	is one of the greatest achievements of modern science.	是现代科学中最伟大的成就之一
[1:26:20]	And even more amazing,	更令人惊叹的是
[1:26:22]	that we have achieved that from this little vantage point	我们生活在银河系角落中
[1:26:25]	in the corner of a galaxy, the Milky Way.	某个稍有优势的位置才取得了这样的成就
[1:26:31]	Imagine that we live in a completely clouded planet,	想象我们生活在一个阴云密布的行星上
[1:26:34]	say like Venus, that nobody ever has seen the stars,	例如金星那里人们从没见过恒星
[1:26:39]	the movements of the sky,	看不到天体的运动
[1:26:42]	I wonder, our culture,	我猜我们的文化
[1:26:44]	our science would have been completely different.	我们的科学将会迥然不同
[1:26:47]	Our lives would be completely different.	我们的生活也将完全不同
[1:26:48]	So how lucky we are to be here	因此我们是如此的幸运
[1:26:51]	on this planet with this beautiful transparent atmosphere	生活在这个大气层美丽而透明的星球上
[1:26:53]	that allows us to admire	使我们能够仰望
[1:26:55]	the majestic display of the starry night.	这星光闪耀的恢宏夜空
[1:27:03]	By looking at the stars, generations of imaginative scientists	一代代富有想象力的科学家通过观察恒星
[1:27:08]	have stretched the boundaries of knowledge,	已经拓展了知识的边界
[1:27:12]	discovering truths stranger than fiction…	发现了比想象还要神奇的现实
[1:27:18]	and, through the stars, uncovered the story of the universe.	通过恒星揭开宇宙故事的神秘面纱
[1:27:24]	But like all good tales,	但同所有美好的故事一样
[1:27:26]	it will eventually come to an end.	它终将告一段落
[1:27:35]	About 100 trillion years from now,	从现在起的一百万亿年后
[1:27:38]	the raw materials for new stars will run out.	形成新恒星的原始材料将会耗尽
[1:27:43]	The last will play out their lives	剩下的恒星将度过它们的余生
[1:27:46]	and their remnants gradually fade,	它们的残骸将逐渐黯淡
[1:27:50]	until, finally, the one remaining cinder goes cold	直到最后一颗恒星的灰烬冷去
[1:27:56]	and light will be extinguished from the universe.	宇宙中再也寻觅不到星光的所在

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