宇宙时空之旅（2014）

Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey S01E03

Part 2 April 25, 2021, 12:39 p.m.

我们对太阳系和彗星有了新的发现
even after all the discoveries we've made about comets
奥尔特的逻辑依然成立
and the Solar System in the many decades since.
但奥尔特云至今
And yet, the Oort Cloud is a sight
依然没有被观测到过
that no one has ever seen.
我们也不能观测
Nor could we.
这里一片漆黑
It's dark out here.
每两颗彗星之间最近的距离
And each comet is about as far from its closest neighbor
都相当于地球离土星的距离
as the Earth is from Saturn.
但科学赋予了每个人特殊的能力
But science gives us special powers of our own.
它赋予扬·奥尔特
It gave Jan Oort
预言的能力
the gift of prophecy.
奥尔特同时也是第一个正确估计
Oort was also the first to correctly estimate
太阳到
the distance between the Sun
银河系中心距离的人
and the center of our galaxy.
这非同小可
That's a big deal--
定位了我们在银河系中的位置
finding out where we are in the Milky Way.
我们的太阳距离银河系中心3万光年
Our star is about 30,000 light-years from the center.
奥尔特同时也是第一个使用射电望远镜
Oort was also the first guy to use a radio telescope
描绘银河系螺旋结构的人
to map the galaxy's spiral structure.
而且他发现我们银河系的中心
And he discovered that the center of our galaxy
是爆♥炸♥频发的地方
was a place of titanic explosions,
这是银河系中心
the first indication
有超大质量黑洞存在的第一个证据
that there might have been a supermassive black hole lurking there.
我们大多数人从未听过扬·奥尔特
Does the fact that most of us know the names of mass murderers,
却知道很多连环杀手
but never heard of Jan Oort,
很奇怪吧
say anything about us?
奥尔特云是如此巨大
The Oort Cloud is so enormous
其中的彗星如果要绕太阳一圈
that it takes one of its comets about a million years
需要花费大约一百万年的时间
to complete a single trip around the Sun.
在这遥远的太阳系边际
Out here, at the far edge of the Solar System,
就算是被掠过恒星的引力拽一小下
even a little tug from the gravity of a passing star
这些彗星都有可能
can liberate some of these comets
挣脱太阳的引力束缚
from their gravitational bondage to the Sun.
有一些彗星被弹出了太阳系
Some comets are flung out of the Solar System
从此开始漫游于星际间
to wander interstellar space.
但对于另一些来说命运却非常不同
But for others, there's a different fate.
这颗彗星正在猛冲向太阳
This one is plunging towards the Sun,
在持续的自♥由♥落体运动中不断加速
gaining speed in an unbroken free fall
而这一过程将会持续数十万年
that lasts hundreds of thousands of years.
当海王星的引力再拽它一次
When Neptune's gravity gives it another tug,
它的轨道会略微发生变化
there's a small change in course.
伟岸的木星
Mighty Jupiter,
太阳系之内除了太阳之外最大的天体
the most massive object in our Solar System-- other than the Sun
会用它巨大的引力吸引这颗彗星
attracts the comet with its powerful gravitational pull,
弯曲它的轨道
bending its path.
当彗星到达内太阳系的时候
When our comet reaches the inner Solar System...
太阳发出的热量会烘烤它
heat from the Sun bakes it.
华丽的蜕变即将开始
A beautiful transformation begins.
贫瘠灰黑色的冰球
The barren, sooty iceberg
现在有了绚丽的彗发
now sports a glowing halo...
和彗尾
and a tail.
这些岩层可以告诉我们大约四十亿年前
These layers tell the story of how the comet was made,
这颗彗星是如何形成的
some four billion years ago.
在四万代人的时间里
During the 40,000 generations of humanity,
明亮的彗星差不多出现过十万次
there must have been roughly 100,000 apparitions of a bright comet.
而在这段时间内
For all that time,
我们能做的只有仰望星空时无助的疑惑
the best we could do was look up in helpless wonder,
被限制在地球上除了我们的自责和恐惧
prisoners of Earth with nowhere to turn for an explanation
无从寻找解释
beyond our guilt and our fears.
但是两个人之间的友谊
But then a friendship began between two men
永久地改变了人类的认知
that led to a permanent revolution in human thought.
艾萨克·牛顿和埃德蒙多·哈雷不会知道
Isaac Newton and Edmond Halley could not know it,
他们的无间合作将最终把人类
but their collaboration would ultimately set us free
从地球这个狭小的世界解放出来
from our long confinement on this tiny world.
166♥4♥年的那颗彗星
The Comet of 166♥4♥
将恐惧弥漫于整个欧洲
sent shivers of dread throughout Europe,
而当瘟疫和伦敦的大火接踵而至的时候
and the terror seemed justified when the Plague
这种恐惧又似乎是理所应当的
and the Great Fire of London followed soon after.
那儿拖着血色的长发
There, with long bloody hair,
一颗闪亮的星裹挟着饥荒瘟疫和战争
a blazing star threatens the world
威胁着整个世界
with famine, plague and war.
对于君王意味着死亡
To princes, it spells death...
对于王国坟茔累累
to kingdoms, many crosses...
对于民众家破人亡
to all estates, inevitable losses...
对于牧人腐烂破败
to herdsmen, rot,
对于农夫颗粒无收
to plowmen, hapless seasons,
对于水手暴风骤雨
to sailors, it brings storms,
对于城市人♥民♥叛乱
to cities, civil treasons.
但对于一个孩子来说
But for one child,
这颗彗星却一点也不吓人
the comet was not the least bit frightening.
对于他来说这是自然的奇迹
For him, it was a thing of wonder.
跟我们一样埃德蒙多·哈雷生性好奇
Like all of us, Edmond Halley was born curious.
我的天
Hell's bells!
他很幸运他的父亲
He was lucky to have a father
鼓励并培养他的好奇心
who encouraged and nurtured his curiosity,
他给哈雷买♥♥了当时最好的科学仪器
buying him the best scientific instruments
并且还资助他远征探险
and even funding his expedition
制♥作♥出了第一张准确的南天星图
to make the first accurate star map of the Southern Hemisphere.
哈雷在20岁时从牛津大学辍学
Halley dropped out of Oxford when he was 20,
然后航行到了赤道之南
and sailed to St. Helena,
靠近非洲西海岸的圣赫勒纳岛
an island below the equator, off the west coast of Africa.
我的天
Hell's bells.
但问题是从没有人告诉过哈雷
The problem was, nobody told Halley
圣赫勒拿岛上的天气
that the weather on St. Helena
基本都很差哈雷花了长达12个月
was generally lousy; it took him 12 frustrating months
才观测了足够多的南天恒星来制♥作♥完整的星图
to observe enough southern stars to make a complete map.
古希腊的神明和英雄中
The gods and heroes of ancient Greece
又加入了新时代的神奇形象
were now joined by the mythic figures of a new world and age,
杜♥鹃♥座圆规座天燕座
一只巨嘴鸟一个圆规一只极乐鸟
a toucan, a compass, a bird of paradise.
当哈雷带着另一半星空回到家乡
When Halley came home with the other half of the sky,
他的星图引起了轰动
his map created a sensation.
现在商人和探险家无论在地球上何处
Now merchants and explorers could navigate by the stars
都可以利用恒星来导航
visible anywhere on Earth.
在那时伦敦皇家学会
At the time, the World Society of London
是世界上所有科学发现的信息交换中心
was the world's clearinghouse of scientific discovery.
它的格言"Nullius in verba"
Its motto, "Nullius in verba,"
总结出了科学方法的核心
sums up the heart of the scientific method.
这是拉丁文意为"勿轻信人言"
It's Latin for "See for yourself."
换句话说就是"质疑权威"
In other words, "Question authority."
哈雷的星图吸引了
Halley's star maps caught the attention
学会实验总管的注意
of the Society's Curator of Experiments.
我本想给你们看下他的样子
I'd show him to you if I could,
但现在已没有罗伯特·胡克的画像了
but no portrait of Robert Hooke exists from his time,
只有他同时代人的口头描述
only the verbal descriptions of his contemporaries.
他们说他"瘦骨嶙峋弯腰驼背丑得要命"
They called him "Lean, bent, ugly."
胡克可能是人类历史上最有创造力的人了
He was possibly the most inventive person who ever lived.
尽管他外表很差
And despite his appearance,
但是他确是整个伦敦最受欢迎的宾客
he was the most sought-after party guest in all of London.
为什么
Why?
因为胡克对所有的事物
Hooke's insatiable curiosity
都有着永不满足的好奇心
encompassed absolutely everything.
胡克发现了一个小宇宙
Hooke discovered a little cosmos,
直到今天我们都以他的方式称呼它
and we still call it by the name he gave it,
细胞
the cell.
胡克用自己发明的复♥式♥显微镜
Hooke discovered the cell by looking at a piece of cork
仔细观察了一块软木
with one of his own inventions,
发现了细胞
the compound microscope.
他比达尔文早了近200年预测出
He anticipated aspects of Darwin's theory of evolution
进化论的某些部分
by almost 200 years.
胡克还改进了望远镜