恒星七纪（2012）

锌 金 铂 银
the zinc, the gold, the platinum, the silver.
它们被抛射到宇宙中
These things are ejected into the cosmos,
在恒星爆发后的极端条件下
having produced them in these very special conditions
创造出了它们
of an exploded star.
构成人类的原子 呼吸的氧气
The very atoms of which we are made, the oxygen that we breathe,
骨骼里的钙元素
the calcium in our bones,
红细胞里的铁元素
the iron in our red blood cells,
都是数十亿年前
were produced billions of years ago
从恒星 特别是垂死的恒星中产生的
in stars, specifically in dying stars,
这些垂死的恒星把元素抛射到宇宙中
and these dying stars ejected these elements into the cosmos,
使它们成为
making them available for raw material
新恒星 新行星的原料
for the production of new stars, planets,
最终 成为生命的原料
and ultimately, life.
你我皆是星尘
We are stardust
或者不那么浪漫地说
or rather, less romantically,
是核废料
nuclear waste.
在某种程度上 古人诚不我欺
In a way, the ancients were right.
恒星就像上帝
The stars ARE like gods.
它们是造物主
They are the creators of us.
形成我们的地球
To make our Earth,
需要几百代的恒星 诞生 死亡
several hundred generations of stars needed to come and go.
尘埃和气体云塌缩 产生了恒星
Stars born from collapsing clouds of dust and gas.
点燃生命之火 闪耀几百万甚至几十亿年
Bursting into life, to shine for millions or billions of years.
晚年膨胀 成为红巨星
Bloating in old age to become Red Giants.
它们的内核收缩 变成了白矮星
Their cores contracting into White Dwarfs.
质量最大的恒星爆发 成为超新星
The most massive ones exploding as supernovae,
将它们制♥造♥出的元素抛射到宇宙深处
flinging the elements they've created out into space
这些元素将成为孕育下一代恒星的原材料
to form the materials for the next generation of stars.
但那远远不是故事的终结
But that's not the end of the story.
超新星看上去像是恒星的魂归之地
Supernovae may look like the death of a star,
但是对一些恒星来说 生命仍将继续
but for some, there is life beyond the grave.
了解它们 需要依靠一群特别的科学家
Understanding that took a particular breed of scientist.
他们不断挑战着自己的想象力
They probed deep into their own imagination
并身陷在浩瀚的计算之中
and a world of calculations.
他们的成果预言出了
And what they found there were predictions
一种如此奇异 超乎想象的天体
of objects so bizarre, so weird,
我们对它们的了解才刚刚开始
that we're only beginning to understand them.
在这个过程中
In the process,
我们还解开了宇宙中更深层的秘密
unravelling even deeper secrets about the universe.
从宇宙中接收到的最微弱的信♥号♥♥
The faintest of signals picked up from deepest space
让现代科学家发现了这奇异的恒星墓碑
have revealed to modern scientists exotic stellar tombstones.
对墓碑的最早预测
Tombstones first predicted
来自一位前卫的挪威天文学家的理论计算
in the theoretical calculations of the maverick Swiss astronomer
弗里茨·兹威基
Fritz Zwicky,
早在80多年之前
more than 80 years ago.
他坚信超新星爆发后
He was sure that when a supernova exploded,
它留下的内核十分致密
it left behind a kernel so dense
一杯物质就会像山一样重
that a cupful would be as heavy as a mountain.
他称之为中子星
He called it a neutron star.
他的想法看上去很荒谬 被人抛诸脑后
It seemed so preposterous that Zwicky's ideas were dismissed.
直到一种探索宇宙的新方式出现
Until, that is, a new way of scouring the heavens emerged -
那就是射电天文学
radio astronomy.
1967年 这个刚起步的学科
In 1967, the fledgling discipline
从太空接收到了一组重复出现的奇怪信息
picked up a strange repetitive message from outer space.
现在人们认为
Now, the people here say
接收到三个时间间隔相等的信♥号♥♥
that if they got three signals as exactly spaced as that,
是很不常见的
it would be very unusual.
而如果接收到了四个 那就是异常的
If they got four, it would be phenomenal.
自十一月以来
Well, they've had pulses
我们接收到了时间间隔
as exactly spaced as that 24 hours of the day
完全相等的信♥号♥♥
since November.
这些脉冲十分精确 其规律也可被预测
These pulses were so exact and predictable in their pattern
科学家甚至认为它们是外星人发出的信♥号♥♥
that scientists even considered aliens as their source.
事实证明
It turned out
它们的发射源与外星人一样令人难以置信
they were being transmitted by something equally unlikely
且不为人们所知
and just as unfamiliar.
最重要的一个问题就是 那是什么
The most important question of all - what are they?
我们知道的是它们很小
Well, we know that they're very small.
这些物体的大小与行星♥相♥仿
They're objects about the size of a planet.
我们还知道它们能量很高
We know also that they are very energetic
远远超过一颗行星
and that the source of energy must be far greater
所能提供的能源
than a planet could really provide.
它肯定是类似恒星的天体
It must be something like a star
被压缩到行星的大小
compressed into a volume the size of a planet.
科学家研究发现这种新恒星的密度
Scientists worked out that the new star had to be denser
比以往发现的任何天体都要高
than any type previously discovered.
这是否就是兹威基所预测的中子星
Could these be the neutron stars predicted by Zwicky?
天文学家戏称其为脉冲星
Astronomers nicknamed them pulsars
并立刻准备好他们的望远镜
and immediately set their telescopes,
搜寻关于它们的其他线索
searching for further clues about them.
仅仅一年以后 他们发现了一颗
Just a year later, they found one,
可以完美地对兹威基的理论进行检验
in the perfect place to put Zwicky's theory to the test.
冬天
In the winter,
我们可以看到星空中最绚丽的部分
we have access to the beautiful part of the sky
弗朗西斯科·迭戈博士
天文学家 伦敦大学学院
其中包括金牛座
that contains the constellation of Taurus, the Bull.
这里看到的是昴星团 即七姊妹星团
Here we have the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters,
下面是另一个星团
down here we have another cluster of the stars,
毕星团
which are the Hyades,
其中包括这颗明亮的恒星 毕宿五
that contain the bright star Aldebaran,
金牛愤怒的眼睛
the angry eye of the bull.
如果我们沿着毕宿五的这个方向
And if we follow from Aldebaran in this direction
指向那边的那颗恒星 就在那里
towards that star there, just about there,
我们会发现距离太阳系最近的一颗脉冲星
we will find the closest pulsar to the solar system,
蟹状星云脉冲星
the Crab Pulsar.
当科学家们发现
What particularly excited
蟹状星云脉冲星时 最让他们激动的
scientists when they discovered the Crab Pulsar
是它正好位于一颗超新星爆发后的遗骸中
was that it was buried deep within the remains of a supernova.
在这张令人惊叹的图像中
In this amazing picture,
我们看到的是超新星爆发后的残骸
we see the remnant of a supernova explosion,
但是当我们扫描这个星云的中心位置时
but when we scan the central part of this nebula,
我们发现了这颗脉冲星
we find the pulsar,
它就是恒星爆发后 残留下来的内核
which is the remnant of the core of the star that exploded.
这证明脉冲星显然与超新星有关
Now that a pulsar was definitively connected to a supernova,
科学家们意识到他们发现了
scientists realised that they had discovered
恒星生命历程中的另一个新阶段
another of the seven ages of starlight.
它说明挪威天文学家兹威基一直都是对的
It showed Swiss astronomer Zwicky was correct all along.
他的理论公式预测了一颗超新星
His theoretical equations predicted how a supernova
如何在爆♥炸♥后还留下这样致密的残骸
could leave behind such a dense remnant.
计算致力于所有物质的一项特殊性质
The calculations focused on a strange quality of all matter.
这个性质与常识相违背
It's one that defies common sense
但它却成为了天体物理学家工作的基础
but is fundamental to the work of astrophysicists
例如道格·伦纳德教授
like Professor Doug Leonard.
所谓固体不过是幻觉
Solidity is an illusion.
如果我挥舞拳头
If I run up with my fist and
道格·伦纳德教授
天体物理学家 圣地亚哥州立大学
击打砖墙 我会感到十分疼
punch a brick wall, it will hurt like heck,
但是 事实上 我的拳头和墙
but, essentially, my fist and the wall
几乎全部都是真空
are almost entirely empty space.
幻觉的产生 是因为我们都由原子组成
The illusion comes because we're made out of atoms,
它们是物质最基本的砖石
the fundamental building blocks of matter,
而原子基本上就是真空
and most of what an atom is is empty space.
如果这是一个包括中子和质子的原子核
So, if this is an atomic nucleus containing the protons and neutrons,
那么电子大概就会在
the electrons would be roughly
背后那群建筑所在的地方
where those buildings are in the background.
兹威基预测
Zwicky predicted
伴随着超新星爆发 大质量恒星塌缩
the one thing violent enough to ram together atomic particles
释放的能量
and fill all this empty space
足以将原子挤到一起 填满所有的空间
is the collapse of a massive star during a supernova.
这个塌缩就发生在仅仅数秒之内
A collapse that happens in a matter of seconds.