了解宇宙是如何运行的（2010）

does the dark energy inside it double, too?
或者增加得更多？
Or does it increase more?
一比一的关联使宇宙稳定的膨胀
A 1-to-1 relationship leads to a steady expansion.
宇宙会终结于大冻结
The universe ends in a Big Freeze.
但是如果暗能量增长的速度 超过了宇宙大膨胀的速度
But if dark energy increases above and beyond expansion,
一个新的、更恐怖的结局 在等待着宇宙 -- 大分♥裂♥
a new, even more terrifying end awaits the universe, a Big Rip.
在大分♥裂♥的剧情里 宇宙膨胀得如此之大
In a Big Rip scenario, the expansion is so great
星系甚至向内扩张
that even the galaxies begin to expand internally,
这意味着
which means that literally
我们的身体即将被撕裂
our bodies are going to be ripped apart.
科学家们推测
Scientists calculate
大分♥裂♥将会如何谢幕
just how the Big Rip will play out.
当膨胀的空间使星系远离地球的速度
One by one, the galaxies in the night sky will blink out
比光速还快 夜空中的星系就会
as space pulls them away from the earth
一个接一个地熄灭
faster than the speed of light.
宇宙终结前六千万年 暗能量战胜引力
60 million years before the end, dark energy overcomes gravity
引力变得越来越弱
on smaller and smaller scales.
首先 星系间开始分♥裂♥
First galaxies start to rip apart,
然后 星系内部开始分♥裂♥
then insides of galaxies will begin to rip apart,
然后 太阳系开始分♥裂♥
and then solar systems will begin to rip apart,
然后是行星
then planets,
再然后是石头、人类、原子
and then rocks, people, atoms.
那将是一种仁慈的快速解脱
The end will be mercifully quick.
短短几分钟
In the space of a few minutes,
宇宙中所有的恒星和行星都将被摧毁
all the stars and planets in the universe will be destroyed,
它们的残骸被撕成更小的碎片
their remains pulled apart into ever-smaller pieces
直至不能再撕
until finally, when the universe has
当宇宙剩余时间不到一秒时
less than a second to live,
组成所有物质的亚原子粒子
the subatomic particles that made all matter
将被摧毁
will be destroyed,
所有残余都将成为个体的光子
and all that remains will be individual photons
随着空间的扩张
becoming scarcer and scarcer
光子也变得越来越罕见
as the space between them expands.
只剩下被不断拉伸的
All you're left with is very low energy light
极低能量的光 直至什么都没有
that gets stretched and stretched until it might as well not exist at all.
最后要做的事情
The last thing to go,
空间本身的空壳
the empty vacuum of space itself.
宇宙难以拉伸
It'll be pulling on the universe so hard,
但宇宙的构造可能被撕裂
it could tear the fabric of the universe apart.
现实可能分解
Reality could dissolve.
宇宙会终结于大分♥裂♥
Will the universe end with a Big Rip,
或是大冻结？
or a Big Freeze?
答案隐藏在暗能量的谜团里
The answer is locked inside the mystery of dark energy.
解决了这个问题 宇宙的命运会变得清晰
Solve that, and the fate of the universe becomes clear.
宇宙终将结束
The end of the universe is coming.
然而它会如何谢幕呢？
But how will it play out?
一段时期 大多数人会回答是大坍塌
For a time, a big crunch was the likely answer.
暗物质 宇宙中看不见的大块头
Dark matter, the invisible bulk of the universe,
导致空间坍塌回原点
causes space to fall in on itself.
星系碰撞 行星与行星♥相♥融合
Galaxies collide. Planet merges with planet.
一切变得越来越热 密度越来越大
Everything becomes hotter and hotter, denser and denser.
宇宙就像一颗巨型恒星
The universe is like one giant star.
暗能量否定了大坍塌理论
Dark energy kills the big crunch theory.
它就像是星系间的空间膨胀
It acts like rocket fuel for the expansion of space
所需的火箭燃料
between galaxies.
它们不只是在滑翔 它们是在被往外推
They're not just coasting. They're getting pushed outward.
只剩下两种可能的命运
Only two possible fates remain,
大分♥裂♥或者大冻结
a Big Rip or a Big Freeze.
两种剧情都依赖暗能量
Both scenarios rely on dark energy.
在大分♥裂♥剧情里 宇宙会被撕成碎片
For the universe to be torn to shreds in a Big Rip,
暗能量在未来必需呈指数地增长
dark energy must increase exponentially in the future.
而大冻结要求暗能量
But a Big Freeze requires a steady increase
稳定地增长
in dark energy,
使星系与星系间彼此被推离
pushing galaxies away from each other.
我们不能写出宇宙的最后章节
We can't write the last chapter of our universe
直至我们了解暗能量的本性
until we understand the nature of dark energy.
二零零九年五月
May 2009.
欧洲航♥天♥局发射普朗克卫星
The European Space Agency launches the Planck satellite
搜寻诞生的暗能量
to search for the birth of dark energy.
它的超灵敏的望远镜穿越时空
Its ultra-sensitive telescope peers through space and time
凝视数十亿年前
back through billions of years,
朝向万物的起源 捕捉这一刻
towards the beginning of everything, to capture this.
这就是我们的宇宙
This is our universe as it appeared
它出现于一百三十多亿年前
over 13 billion years ago,
大爆♥炸♥发生后三十八万年
380,000 years after the big bang.
所以普朗克望远镜所做的 就是拍照
So what Planck has done is take a picture
早期的宇宙
of the early universe
告诉我们早期宇宙的模样
and told us about what the early universe is like
及时向我们提供那一刻最多的细节
and given us our most detailed and accurate picture
和精确的图片
of that moment in time.
这图片中的宇宙
The universe in this picture
是一锅由质子、电子和光子 组成的热汤
is a hot soup of protons, electrons, and photons.
氢原子刚开始形成
Hydrogen atoms have just started to form,
这是我们在这里看到的
and it's the light from this genesis of matter
物质起源之光
that we see here.
蓝色♥区♥域温度较低 红色♥区♥域温度较高
Blue areas are colder. Reds are warm.
最终 这些热的斑点
Eventually, those hot spots,
你在图上看到的这些红色的斑点
those red spots you see in the map,
会形成巨大的超星系团
are going to form large superclusters
制♥造♥出成百上千个星系
made up of hundreds or thousands of galaxies.
每个星系都含有数十亿颗恒星
Each one of those galaxies will contain billions of stars.
引力和膨胀各自出场
Gravity and expansion alone
驱使胚胎星系的形成
appear to drive the formation of these embryonic galaxies.
暗能量似乎尚未开启
Dark energy doesn't seem to have switched on yet.
那么 暗能量何时主宰宇宙？
So, when did dark energy take control of the universe?
天文学家布伦达.弗赖伊 是团队的成员
Astronomer Brenda Frye is part of a team
她使用巨大的地面望远镜
using massive ground-based telescopes
像这台 位于亚利桑那州基特峰的望远镜
like this one at Kitt Peak, Arizona.
她回望过去 及时捕捉
She peers back in time to capture the universe
童年成长♥期♥中的宇宙
through its childhood as it was growing.
这是一个铝制盘子
Right. So this is an aluminum plate,
在这盘子上钻六百四十个眼儿
and into this plate are drilled 6♥4♥0 individual holes.
每个眼儿都被安排到 蒙板上指定的位置
Each one is put at a very specific place on the mask
每个位置相当于 天空中一个特别的星系
which will correspond to one particular galaxy in the sky.
在每次观测期间
During each observation,
通过光缆采集
the light from 6♥4♥0 individual galaxies is collected
来自六百四十个星系的光
using fiber optic cables.
测量每个星系的移♥动♥速度和相对位置
The speed and relative position of each galaxy is measured
以精准定位星系在太空中的位置
to pinpoint exactly where it is in space.
到目前为止 这个团队已经精确绘制了
So far, the team has accurately mapped
大约一百个星系的立体图
around a million galaxies in 3D,
这就是它们的模样
and this is what they look like.
这些模糊斑点当中的每一个
Each one of these fuzzy patches
都是一个成熟的星系
is a fully grown galaxy
每个星系都含有大约二千亿颗恒星
containing around 200 billion stars.
这是一次基本的测量
This is a very basic measurement,
我们认为这能够帮助我们
and we think that this will be able to help us
了解暗能量的性质
to get a grasp into the nature of dark energy.
科学家们把这张青春期的宇宙
Scientists compare this adolescent universe
和婴儿期宇宙的图片做对比
to its baby pictures.
显示出暗能量正浮出水面
It shows dark energy emerging
此时的宇宙只有目前年龄的一半
when the universe is half as old as it is today.
大爆♥炸♥后约八十亿年
About 8 billion years after the Big Bang,
宇宙膨胀开始加速
this expansion of the universe begins to accelerate,
我们现在就处于加速中
and we're in the middle of this acceleration.
数据也显示 当空间扩张时
The data also shows that as space expands,
步调一致地 暗能量也在增加
dark energy increases in lockstep with it.
如果你把暗能量放在一个盒子里
If you had a box and you put some dark energy in it,
然后你加速跑 并掂量这盒子的轻重
and then you went and you weighed that box,
现在你手里的盒子变成两倍大
now you take the box, you make it twice as big.
不要打开它 也不要放任何东西进去