了解宇宙是如何运行的（2010）

How the Universe Works S06E03

Part 4 Dec. 22, 2021, 7:22 p.m.

空虚的太空中永远孤独地徘徊
the emptiness of space forever and alone.
这颗行星的问题在于
The problem with the planet
它不再与恒星♥相♥连
is that it's no longer bound to a star,
所以它的外表面很可能会冻结
so the outer surface would most likely freeze.
双星系
Binary stars
可以为行星创造奇怪的环境
can create weird environments for planets.
你可以看到星系中令人振奋的景色
You could get an exhilarating view of the galaxy,
也可以冰冻在冰冷的荒地上
or freeze on an icy wasteland.
但天文学家们发现了一些奇怪的双星系，在这些双星系中
双恒星并没有被撕裂，而是被捆在一起，形成了一个
即将降临我们银河系的宇宙事件
But astronomers are finding bizarre new systems
where stars are not being torn apart,
they're being driven together,
creating a cosmic event coming soon to our galaxy.
所以两颗星比一颗星好吗？
So are two stars better than one?
但有一件事是毫无疑问的
双星系统当然非常具有戏剧性
Binary systems are certainly very dramatic.
甚至有一个双星系中两颗恒星非常接近
There's even one that has two stars so close,
它们相互接触
they're touching.
KIC 9832227是一个非常有趣的双星系
KIC 9832227 is a very interesting binary system.
这就是我们所说的接触双星
It's what we call a contact binary.
这意味着这两颗恒星基本上是相互接触的
So this means that the two stars are basically in contact,
但它们都是独♥立♥的恒星
but they're separate stars.
他们有一个共同的大气层或外层
They share a common atmosphere or envelope.
一个大约是太阳质量的三分之一
One's about a third the mass of the sun,
另一个是太阳质量的 1.4 倍
one about 1.4 times the mass of the sun,
它们每11小时围绕对方旋转
and they're rotating around each other every 11 hours.
2017年……卡尔文学院的科学家
2017... Scientists from Calvin college
揭示了一个令人兴奋的发现
reveal an exciting discovery.
这些双星离得更近了
These binary stars are moving even closer together.
他们计算并做出大胆的预测
They do the math and make a bold prediction.
所以，这个双恒星不同于我们研究过的
So, this star is different from all other contact binary stars
所有其他接触双星，因为我们相信
we've studied because this one, we believe,
这个双恒星，在未来的五年里会合并
in the next five years is going to merge,
螺旋状地结合在一起，然后爆♥炸♥
spiral in together, and explode.
但这个双恒星离我们足够近……
But it's a star close enough to us...
只有1800光年远……
Only 1,800 light years away...
当它爆♥炸♥时，它的亮度足以
That when it explodes, it'd be bright enough
让你用肉眼看到
to see with your naked eye.
两颗恒星碰撞在一起……
Two stars crashing together...
这就是众所周知的红新星
An event known as a red Nova.
如果这是真的，如果你真的看到了它
If this is true, if you really see it,
那将是难以置信的
it would be fabulous,
因为它不仅验证了
because not only would it validate
这个惊人的预测
this amazing prediction,
而且我们在夜空中有新的东西可以看了
but we have something new to look at in the night sky.
如果这真的发生了
If this comes through, this would just be
这将是我一生中的大事
the event of my lifetime.
在天文学上，我们不能预测的事情太多了
We don't get to predict too many things in astronomy
除了，你懂的
except, you know,
“从现在起10亿年后，这事就会发生”
"a billion years from now, this thing will happen."
所以你必须理解这是什么
So you have to appreciate what this thing is.
这些恒星可能有数十亿年的历史
These stars are probably billions of years old.
我们很幸运能在最后看到这一幕
We're just so lucky to be able to see this right at the end
我们只需要等几年的时间……
where we just have a few years left...
这是十亿年寿命中的几年
A few years out of a billion-year life span.
这是第三个数字
It's an amazing cosmic coincidence
带给你的惊人的宇宙巧合
brought to you by the number three.
在这些恒星近距离接触之前
Before these stars came into close contact,
它们可能已经有了邻居……
they may have had a neighbor...
是遥远的第三颗恒星让这一切开始运转
A distant third star that set this all in motion.
当你有三个物体时
Whenever you have three objects,
引力动力学就会变得非常复杂
(这就是小说《三体》中的世界)
the gravitational dynamics becomes incredibly complicated.
第三颗恒星拉动着双星
The third star pulls on the binary
两颗恒星绕着对方运行
as the two orbit each other,
将它们拉伸成一个拉长的轨道
stretching them out basically into an elongated orbit.
这两颗恒星抵♥制♥这样方式
The two stars resist that,
试图再次绕其轨道运行
trying to circularize their orbit again.
这种前后的相互作用
That back and forth interaction
把第三颗恒星推得更远
pushes the third star further away,
把两颗恒星拉得更近
pulls the two stars closer.
这些恒星被挤在一起
The stars have been shoved together,
但他们的故事将会变得更加怪异
but their story is about to get even weirder.
物质会从较小的恒星中流出
Matter will stream off the smaller star
直到它的引力太弱而无法保持其位置……
until it is too gravitationally weak to hold its position...
这使它们的轨道更加紧密
Driving their orbits even tighter together,
移♥动♥也会越来越快
moving them faster and faster.
最后，较小的恒星会撞向较大的恒星
Finally, the smaller star will plunge into the larger one,
并把它撕裂……
tearing through it...
向四面八方发射
And blasting hundreds of trillions of tons of debris
数以百万亿吨♥的碎片
in every direction.
这将是一个巨大的能量
This would be an enormous amount of energy.
爆♥炸♥的顶峰会比现在
Explosion at its peak will be 10,000 times
亮一万倍
brighter than the star is today.
这种碰撞也将是一种创造行为
This collision will also be an act of creation.
两颗恒星的核心将会碰撞并合为一个
The cores of the two stars will collide and become one,
形成一个超热的蓝色气体球
creating a super hot blue ball of gas,
一颗新生的恒星
a newborn star.
想想这有多酷
Just think about how cool that is.
在天鹅座，大约5年后
In the constellation Cygnus, in about five years' time,
一颗由两颗老恒星产生的新恒星将会开启……
a new star is gonna turn on created from two older stars...
一种全新的观察恒星诞生的方式
An entirely new way of seeing a star being born.
在恒星周围
Around the star,
灼热的气体会向外膨胀
searing-hot gas will expand outwards,
冷却时变成红色，成为红色新星
turning red as it cools, becoming the red Nova.
爆♥炸♥将产生一种崭新的光
The explosion will create a brand-new light
就像夜空中的北极星一样明亮
as bright as the north star in our night sky.
我们能有这样的机会真是太了不起了
It's just phenomenal that we get this opportunity.
这是每个天文学家都想做的事
This is what every astronomer wants to do.
我们离这对碰撞的双星情侣
We are at a safe distance
还是有安全距离的
from this colliding star duo.
但如果我们的星球就围绕在这个双星系上运行
But would we feel the same way if we were on a planet
我们会有同样的感觉吗？
orbiting this binary system.
这是一个非常非常有活力的事件
This is a very, very energetic event.
生命能在这样的事件中存活下来吗？
Could life survive such an event?
我可不想做实验的小白鼠
I wouldn't want to be there as the test Guinea pig.
所有这些能量涌入
All this energy comes pouring in,
星球的大气层可能会被剥离
and your atmosphere is likely to be stripped away.
如果这个世界上有海洋
If there are oceans on this world,
它们很可能会被蒸发
they're likely to be vaporized,
除了岩石，可能剩下的就很少了
and there may be very little left other than rock.
你一定不想和这个新星瞎混
A Nova is nothing you want to fool around with.
任何靠近的行星都会被烤熟
Any planet that's close by is gonna get cooked.
它会被喷上沙子，然后，你懂的，就是那样
It's gonna get sandblasted, and then, you know, there it is.
如果那是你想去的地方
If that's the kind of place you want to be,
嘿，除非你非常强壮，但我更喜欢地球
hey, more power to you, but I like earth.
地球和我们唯一的恒星在一起
Earth has a good thing going these days
最近一切安好
with our single star.
没有碰撞，没有爆♥炸♥，也没有戏剧性事件
No collisions, no explosions, no drama.
要确认两颗恒星比一颗好
For two stars to be better than one,
我们就需要在双星系中找到岩石行星
we need to find rocky planets in a binary system.
但到目前为止，我们还没有解决这个问题……
(raising the question原意是提出问题
但，根据下文已经在试图寻找了，只是
还没有发现，所以这里译为解决问题)
But so far, we haven't, raising the question...
它们真的存在吗？
Can they really exist at all?
开普勒太空望远镜
The Kepler space telescope
发现了数千颗围绕单一恒星运行的系外行星
has blown the search for alien worlds wide open,
使外星世界的搜索
discovering thousands of exoplanets
大开眼界
orbiting single stars.
当我开始我的天文学生涯的时候
关于其他恒星周围有行星的想法是一种白日梦
我们不知道它们是否存在
现在我们生活在一个发现成千上万个系外行星的年代
我们……我们知道我们生活在一个人口稠密的银河系
呃，外面有更多的行星
这几年时间变化很大
我们在太空的黑暗中发现的越多