恒星七纪（2012）

在超新星中
In a supernova,
最先发生的是铁核的内爆
the very first thing that happens is the iron core implodes,
将从地球大小
from something about the size of the Earth
压缩到仅仅一个小城市的规模
down to something the size of a small city,
在内爆过程中 密度将变得十分高
and in that implosion, the densities become so high
以至于质子和电子被挤到了一起
that the protons and the electrons get squeezed together
并形成了中子
to form neutrons.
同时 重要的是
And, essentially,
原子中的空隙被挤出
all the air of the atoms gets squeezed out of it,
而最终剩下的就是一个由中子组成的球
and what you're left with at the end is a ball of neutrons,
它极其致密 被我们称为中子星
an incredibly dense object that we call a neutron star.
中子星形成的过程中 它的磁场增强
And as the neutron star formed, its magnetic field intensified.
其强度是太阳磁场的数十亿倍
And became billions of times stronger than our Sun's.
随着中子星的旋转
Now, as the star span,
它的南北极将发射出无线信♥号♥♥
it channelled out radio signals from its north and south poles.
它每旋转一圈 信♥号♥♥都会扫过地球
Signals that swept past Earth with every rotation of the star.
这就是神秘脉冲的来源
This was the source of the mysterious pulses.
这脉冲极其规律 因此脉冲星
Some are so regular that pulsars
成为了宇宙中最精确的钟表之一
are among the most accurate clocks in the universe.
中子星的发现
The discovery of neutron stars
有力地证明了理论物理的力量
was a vindication of the power of theoretical physics.
它使得天文学家们开始思考
It set astronomers wondering
其他被理论预测的奇怪天体
if other strange bodies that had been predicted
是否也正在宇宙中游荡
could be lurking in space.
其中有一种理论上的天体
And there was one hypothetical object
甚至比中子星更加怪异
that was even weirder than a neutron star.
恒星生命的最后阶段
The last stage of a star's life
比起现实世界 更像是科幻小说中的想象
is as much an idea of science fiction as a physical reality.
科普作家亚德连·贝利在《铁太阳》一书中
Put forward by science writer Adrian Berry in his book The Iron Sun,
提出 未来人类可以利用黑洞
the suggestion is that, in the future, man could use black holes
快速地往来于宇宙之中
to transport himself instantly around the universe,
而我说的快速 就有这么快
and when I say instantly, I really mean like that.
一直以来 大多数科学家
For years, most scientists
不屑地将黑洞视为异想天开
dismissed black holes as fanciful conjecture.
它们的时空结构显然是不合理的
They were apparently nonsensical structures of space and time,
阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦的公式在极端情况下
spat out when Albert Einstein's equations
黑洞才可能出现
were taken to their extreme conclusion.
爱因斯坦的相对论确实将我们引上了
Einstein's theory of relativity does lead us
奇异而陌生的方向
into very strange and unfamiliar paths.
爱因斯坦本人并不相信黑洞的存在
Einstein himself didn't believe in black holes.
但当我们试图去理解它们时
But in our search to understand them,
我们找到的线索 也许能解开最大的谜题
we might have found a clue to the biggest question of all.
宇宙的起源
The very origin of the universe.
这些黑洞到底藏在哪里
It's like there's just a huge question mark in the sky,
就像是天上悬着的一个巨大问号♥
where one of these things exists.
它们是宇宙中最神秘的天体
They are the most mysterious objects in space.
在那里公式不再有意义
It's where the equations themselves break down.
黑洞是这样的复杂 这样的不切实际
Black holes are so complex, so fantastical,
即使我们已经确定它们真的存在
that even now we know they ARE real,
它们却带来了更多的问题
they throw up more questions than answers.
它们怎么可能存在 这怎么都说不通
How can they exist? They simply don't make sense.
黑洞是宇宙中的一点
A black hole represents a spot in space
在它周围的引力十分强
around which the gravity is so intense
任何东西 即使是光线也无法逃离
that nothing, not even light, can get away.
这个空间的边界叫做事件视界
It's a region bounded by something called the event horizon
在里面 所有的事件
within which all events
都无法被外面的观察者看见
are beyond the horizon of someone outside,
意味着没人能看到 黑洞内发生的任何事件
meaning they cannot see anything that's happening inside there,
因此这是一个
so it's a region of space
没有办法探查其中任何信息的空间
from which no information can ever escape.
科学家认为宇宙中的这些怪物
Scientists think that these extraordinary monsters in space
诞生于超大质量恒星的死亡
are created by the death of the most massive stars.
极少数恒星的内核十分大
Rare stars whose cores are so huge
它们塌缩时
that when they collapse,
并不会变为脉冲星
they don't turn into a pulsar.
塌缩将一直继续下去
The collapse just keeps on going.
直到现在 它在某种程度上还只是理论
It remains, to some extent, a theory.
但道格·伦纳德 是当代人中
But Doug Leonard has got as close as anyone
最接近亲眼目睹这一过程的人
to actually seeing it happen.
首先电脑上设定的一个警报提醒我们
It started by getting an alert on the computer
在邻近星系中发生了超新星爆发
that a supernova had gone off in a very nearby galaxy,
仅仅在21亿光年以外
only 210 million light years away.
图片中箭头所指 就是这颗超新星
Here's a picture of the supernova indicated by the arrow,
所以我们立即开始
and so what we immediately did
搜索哈勃太空望远镜的数据资料
was trawl through the Hubble Space Telescope archives
看能否找到这颗恒星爆发前
to see if we could find a picture of that exact spot in the sky
拍摄的图像
taken before the star had actually exploded,
幸运的是 有人拍过
and, as luck would have it, someone did.
照片显示这颗超新星
The image revealed that the supernova
是处于某个遥远星系 名为LBV-1的恒星
was the explosion of a star dubbed LBV-1,
产生的爆发
in a distant galaxy.
道格和他的小组意识到
Doug and his team realised
他们得到了一个前所未有的机会
that they had an unprecedented opportunity.
因为这颗恒星曾是一颗超大质量恒星
Because the star had been a super-massive one,
质量至少是太阳的五十倍
at least 50 times the mass of the Sun.
这种大小正好适于测试理论公式
It was exactly the size to test out the theoretical equations.
这是否标志着一个黑洞的诞生
Could this possibly be the birth of a black hole?
等待这颗超新星的焰火和余烬消散
Two years we waited for all of the fireworks and embers
我们花了两年时间
of the supernova to disappear and go away,
我们在超新星爆发很长时间后
so that we could get a third picture
得以拍摄第三张照片
long after the supernova was gone
看看这颗恒星是否真的已经消失
to see if that star in fact had disappeared,
实际上它确实消失了
and in fact it had.
现在已经毫无踪影
It was now gone.
这曾是一颗非常明亮的恒星
It was an extremely luminous star,
发生了爆发 而今消失了
it blew up and now it was gone.
证据表明
The evidence suggested
这颗大质量恒星所含的上亿吨♥物质
that billions of tonnes of matter from a massive star
已经收缩得不见踪影
had shrunk to nothing.
现在我们只能惊讶于 如此巨大的质量
So what we're left with here is this mind-boggling idea
竟包含于无形之中
of mass contained in zero volume,
这绝对让你目瞪口呆
and that just makes your head spin,
然而这正是我们所说的黑洞
but that's what we call a black hole.
正是这些特性
It's these very qualities
使得一些科学家认为 了解黑洞
that make some scientists think understanding black holes
就能够掌握最早一批恒星的秘密
could hold the key not to death
不是它们的死亡 而是它们的诞生
but to the birth of the very first stars.
这真是一个令人惊叹的故事
It's really an awe-inspiring story,
经典的创世神话和它比起来
much more so than the classical creation myths
不免相形见绌
that make it seem so easy.
科学家发现 在另一个地方
Scientists have discovered that there's one other place
能找到一个无穷密度 而体积为零的点
you can find a point of infinite density and zero volume.
那是在宇宙开始的瞬间
That's at the instant the universe began,
这正是艾伦·德雷斯勒博士的研究方向
a moment studied by astronomer Dr Alan Dressler.
在今天 这已被科学界认同
Today, it's scientific orthodoxy,
但事实并非一向如此
but it wasn't always that way.
从科学的角度来看
The idea that the universe had a creation event
艾伦·德雷斯勒博士
卡内基科学协会 天文学家
宇宙起源于创世事件
from a scientific perspective
这是一个革命性的观念
was a revolutionary idea.
其革命性
Every bit as remarkable a revolution
与发现太阳系的中心是太阳而非地球
as the idea that the Sun and not the Earth
不分伯仲
was the centre of the solar system.
科学家称之为大爆♥炸♥
Scientists call it the Big Bang,
这是用发现黑洞的同样公式
and it was predicted by the very same equations
预测到的
that discovered black holes.
这就是大爆♥炸♥理论 根据这条理论
There's the Big Bang theory according to which...
一百亿年前的创世日
the universe began with a gigantic fireball
宇宙起源于一个巨大的火球
on creation day, some 10,000 million years ago.
正是这里 宇宙诞生之时
It was here, at the beginning of the universe,