宇宙时空之旅（2014）

Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey S01E03

Part 6 April 25, 2021, 12:39 p.m.

in long elliptical orbits.
他也是第一个发现1531年的彗星
And he was the first to know that the comets seen in 1531,
与1607年和1682年的
1607, and 1682...
其实是同一颗
were one and the same
是一颗每76年就回归一次的彗星
a single comet that returned every 76 years.
这是模式识别的极好范例
In a stunning example of true pattern recognition,
他预言在50年后的未来
he predicted it would be seen again
人们还会见到这颗彗星
more than 50 years in the future.
《彗星天文学论说》
千年以来彗星一直是神秘主义者的道具
For millennia, comets had been props for mystics,
神秘主义者认为彗星是人间大事的预兆
who considered them to be merely omens of human events.
哈雷粉碎了他们的垄断
Halley shattered their monopoly,
在他们的行当中打败了他们
beating them at their own game,
那是一个从未有科学家参与的行当
a game that no scientist had ever played before...
预言
prophecy.
他没有闪烁其词
And he did not hedge his bet.
美国棒球运动员
就像巴比·鲁斯准确预言
Like Babe Ruth predicting
他的下一个全垒打会在哪里一样
where his next home run would land in the stands,
哈雷肯定地说彗星将会于1758年年末
Halley stated flatly that the comet would return at the end of 1758,
从天空的特定位置
from a particular part of the sky,
按照指定路线回归
following a specific path.
几乎没有哪个神秘主义者提出的预言
There is hardly a prophecy attempted by the mystics
其准确性能与之相比
that ever even strives for comparable precision.
这就是哈雷彗星
That's Halley's Comet.
在太阳系边缘
Out here at the edge of the Solar System,
它看起来很普通
it doesn't look like much.
只不过是宇宙中一大块冰和岩石的混合物
Just a big hunk of ice and rock in space.
在海王星轨道之外
That's because beyond the orbit of Neptune,
距离太阳约五十亿千米
nearly five billion kilometers from the Sun,
彗星们过着安静的生活
comets lead very quiet lives.
在它接近轨道的远端时
As it reaches the far end of its orbit,
它会减速直到太阳阻止它再向远处走
it'll slow down till the Sun allows it to go no farther.
然后它向太阳系内坠落
Then it will begin its long fall back to the inner Solar System.
哈雷彗星围绕太阳做自♥由♥落体
Halley's comet is in free fall around the Sun.
太阳系中的一切天体
Everything in our Solar System
地球月球其他行星彗星小行星
the Earth, the Moon, the other planets, comets, asteroids,
都围绕太阳自♥由♥落体
all of them are falling around the Sun.
万有引力将行星拉向太阳
Gravity pulls the planets towards the Sun,
但由于它们的轨道动量
but because of their orbital momentum,
它们只是围绕太阳运行并不会冲到太阳里
they keep moving around the Sun, never falling into it.
罗伯特·胡克已于多年前去世
Robert Hooke had died years before,
每天摄入一定量的艾草鸦♥片♥和水银
having ruined his health with some bad habits...
这样的坏习惯蚕食了他的健康
daily doses of wormwood, opium, mercury.
几个月后牛顿接替他
A few months later, Newton was elected to replace him
当选皇家学会的主席
as president of the Royal Society.
据说胡克的画像
It is said that a portrait of Hooke
曾经挂在这墙上
once hung on these walls.
罗伯特·胡克
哈雷继续完成他更惊人的壮举
Halley lived on to accomplish many more astonishing feats.
一直到85岁去世他都还在为工作而奋斗
He worked right up to his death at age 85.
他临终时叫了一杯红酒
His final act was to call for a glass of wine.
满怀愉悦之情一饮而尽
He downed it with pleasure...
咽下最后一口气
and breathed his last breath.
据说正是在这样的夜晚
Some believe that it was on a night like this
艾萨克·牛顿最终完成了
that Isaac Newton finally took his revenge
对罗伯特·胡克的报复
against Robert Hooke.
但是哈雷的预言并未被人们忘记
But Halley's prophecy was not forgotten.
50年后
50 years later,
当哈雷所预计的时间接近时
as the time of the predicted return approached,
全世界的天文学家争相
the world's astronomers vied
做第一个目击此彗星的人
to be the first to catch sight of his comet.
他们没有失望
They weren't disappointed.
从那以后每76年人们都会迎接它的回归
It's been welcomed back every 76 years since.
当哈雷彗星重归我们的天空时
When Halley's Comet returns to our skies,
太阳会融化它表面的冰
sunlight will warm up the ice on its surface,
再次释放出
once again setting loose
其中的尘埃和气体
the dust and gases trapped within.
最近一次哈雷彗星回归是1986年
Halley's Comet most recently visited our neighborhood back in 1986.
如果你在2061年看到这番景象
And if you're seeing this in 2061,
那么你就知道它回来了
then you'll know it's back.
希望你能感受到
May you feel the wonder of all those
先人眼中的惊奇
who came before you...
毫无恐惧
and none of the fear.
牛顿的定律使埃德蒙多·哈雷
Newton's laws made it possible for Edmond Halley
能够预测50年后的事情
to see some 50 years into the future
还有一颗彗星的行踪
and predict the behavior of a single comet.
从那以后科学家们运用这些定律
Scientists have been using these laws ever since,
打开了通向月球之路
opening the way to the Moon
甚至超出太阳系
and even beyond our Solar System.
摇篮中的婴儿要学走路了
The baby in the basket is learning to walk...
他也将认识宇宙
and to know the cosmos.
还有最后一个预言
Which brings me to one last prophecy.
仅依靠牛顿的万有引力定律
Using nothing more than Newton's laws of gravitation,
天文学家可以很有把握地预言
we astronomers can confidently predict
几十亿年后
that several billion years from now,
我们的家园银河系
our home galaxy, the Milky Way,
会与我们的邻居仙女座星系合并
will merge with our neighboring galaxy Andromeda.
因为相对于自身大小
Because the distances between the stars
恒星之间的距离要远得多
are so great compared to their sizes,
星系中只有极少数恒星真的会发生碰撞
few if any stars in either galaxy will actually collide.
在那遥远的未来星球上的生命
Any life on the worlds of that far-off future
会是安全的但是他们依然可以
should be safe, but they would be treated to an amazing,
欣赏持续数亿年的星光秀
billion-year-long light show...
五千亿颗恒星随音乐翩翩起舞
a dance of a half a trillion stars...
小小世界中首次听到这音乐的人
to music first heard on one little world
是一位有挚友陪伴的伟人
by a man who had but one true friend.