了解宇宙是如何运行的（2010）

How the Universe Works S05E05

Part 2 April 18, 2021, 7:47 p.m.

导致气体的温度升高
raising temperatures
并释放出强烈的光
and releasing an intense burst of light.
但要获得 15lh 产生的那种亮度
But to get the kind of brightness produced by 15lh,
就需要一种非常特殊的磁星
you need a very special type of magnetar,
一种我们迄今为止见过的最强大
the most powerful, fastest-spinning magnetar
旋转速度最快的磁星
we have ever seen.
它将磁星类型推到了绝对极限
It pushes the magnetar model to the absolute limits,
这种磁星能够以大约1毫秒的自转周期
because you need the magnetar to be rotating with about
快速地旋转
a 1-millisecond spin period.
这意味着中子星在爆♥炸♥后的
That means the neutron star has to be spinning
一个月里必须以
1,000 times per second,
每秒1000次的速度
and then over the course of the month
快速旋转，并把……
of this explosion, you need to ...
并把中子星内部所有的旋转能量
you need to take all of that rotational energy
都释放到周围的恒星上
that's inside the neutron star and blast it outwards
这样才能让我们能够看到
into the surrounding star to make the light show
数十亿光年之外的光
that we see billions of light years away.
15lh 是科学家所见过的
15lh was the brightest supernova
最亮的超新星
scientists have ever seen,
几乎像一场完美风暴
and almost like a perfect storm.
它可能是我们见过的最亮的超新星
It could be the brightest supernova we'll ever see.
理论上讲，超新星产生的能量
There's a theoretical upper limit
是有其上限的
to how much energy a supernova can generate,
而这颗超新星刚好处于上限的边缘
and this thing was right at the edge of it.
幸运的是，超亮超新星
Fortunately, superluminous supernovas
非常罕见
are also super rare,
所以在我们的附近短期内
so we're unlikely to have one explode
不太可能发生某个爆♥炸♥
in our neighborhood any time soon.
但银河系是一个很大的地方
But the galaxy is a big place,
还有更多的杀手
and there are plenty more killers out there.
和“光明”一样强大的是
And as powerful as light can be,
黑暗的力量，它同样致命
the power of dark can be just as deadly.
超新星有很多方法可以杀死你
Supernovae may have many ways to kill you.
一颗超亮超新星可能会让你丧生于火中
A superluminous supernova might kill you in a death by fire.
但一个非新星（失败的超新星——译者注）
But an unnova,
却让你死于冰冻
death by ice.
宇宙中一些最亮的光
Some of the brightest lights in the universe
是由年轻的蓝色恒星
are created by young blue stars
在明亮的死亡爆♥炸♥中产生的
as they die in bright explosions.
超亮超新星是极端的例子
Superluminous supernovas are the ultimate example,
但其他类型的恒星也可以变成超新星
but other types of stars can go supernova, too.
像太阳这样的黄色的恒星随着年龄的增长而膨胀
Yellow stars like the sun swell up as they age,
最终会转变成被称为红巨星的超大怪兽
transforming into oversized monsters known as red giants.
这些膨胀的恒星中最大的
The biggest of these bloated stars
被称为红色超级巨星，天文学家经常看到
are called red supergiants, and astronomers often see them
它们在明亮、猛烈的超新星中爆♥炸♥
explode in bright, violent supernovas.
红巨星越大，爆♥炸♥就越大
The bigger the red giant, the bigger the bang.
但是有一个问题
But there's a problem.
没有人目击过我们银河系中
Nobody has ever witnessed the flash of
最大的红色超级巨星的闪光
the very biggest red supergiants in our galaxy.
这些膨胀成最庞大的古老恒星
These most massive of bloated old stars
肯定正在死亡
have to be dying.
但如果不是一闪而过，那会怎样？
But if not in a flash of light, then how?
现在科学家们提出了一个非凡的理论
Now scientists have come up with an extraordinary theory.
这颗最大的红色超级巨星
Instead of exploding in a bright supernova,
并不是在明亮的超新星中爆♥炸♥
the biggest of the red supergiants
而是在瞬间消失
are simply blinking out of existence.
科学家们称这些奇怪的在消失中死亡的星体为“非新星”
Scientists dub these weird disappearing deaths "unnovas,"
新的证据表明这些非新星
and new evidence suggests these unnovas
可能是冷血的星球杀手
could be cold-blooded planet-killers.
你抬头望着天空
You're looking up into the sky,
阳光灿烂
the sun is shining,
突然间，一切都没了
and all of a sudden, it just turns out.
这就是非新星的样子
That's what an unnova would look like.
Kipping: 这将是地球历史上
Kipping: It would be the biggest catastrophe
最大的灾难
in the history of the planet.
我们所知道的生命将无法生存
Life as we know it would not be able to survive.
科学家们认为，最大的红色超级巨星
Scientists believe the key to the biggest
消失的关键是一种超高效的转变
red supergiants disappearing is a super-efficient
从一个巨大的燃烧着的气体球
transformation from a giant, burning ball of gas
变成一个微小的高密度黑洞
to a tiny, dense black hole.
为了获得非新星，所有的东西都要进行完美的调整
Everything has to be perfectly tuned to get an unnova.
恒星不能快速旋转
The star can't be rotating very quickly
外层也不能膨胀太多
and the outer layers can't expand much.
当所有条件都满足时
When all the conditions are right,
它就会坍缩成黑洞
it just collapses into a black hole.
它们基本上就是，噗的一声，变成了黑洞
They basically just, whoomp, become a black hole.
红色超巨星在死亡时
It's not unusual for red supergiant stars
形成黑洞并不罕见
to form black holes when they die,
但大多数都是在它们释放出
but most do it after they've released
我们所看到的强烈闪光之后形成的超新星
the violent flash of light we see as a supernova.
但最大的超巨星在其核心
But the biggest supergiants have so much mass
有非常大的质量和非常大的引力
and so much gravity in their cores
以至于当它们坍塌时
that when they collapse,
没有任何一个光子能够
not a single photon of light escapes
从新形成的黑洞中逃逸出来
from the newly formed black hole.
对观察者来说，这颗恒星就这么消失了
To an observer, the star simply disappears.
这种没有闪光的情况下死亡的恒星
The death of a star without the flash.
就是非新星
An unnova.
布洛克: 就像星星坍缩后
Bullock: It's almost like the star has fallen in
却忘了爆发出来
and has forgotten to come out.
但更实际的说法是，当它坍缩后后
But more realistically, what's going on
它已经没有能力爆发出来了
is when it falls in, it just can't come out.
它在自身的周围产生了非常大的引力
It's created so much gravity around itself
以至于爆♥炸♥的力量都不允许它逃逸
that even an explosion doesn't allow it to escape.
它不会爆♥炸♥
It doesn't get to explode.
它刚好坍缩成了黑洞
It just falls right into a black hole.
那么是什么导致非新星成为行星杀手的呢？
So what makes unnovas planet-killers?
最大的红色超级巨星衰老速度相对较快
The biggest red supergiants age relatively quickly,
在1000万年后就会死亡
dying after just 10 million years.
但天文学家大卫·基平认为，这些巨星
But astronomer David kipping believes that just might be
有足够的时间创造出
enough time for these giant stars
可能适合居住的世界
to create potentially habitable worlds.
在这些恒星周围，一百万年之内，行星可以……
Planets can form pretty quickly. They can form in ...
行星还是可以很快地形成
within a million years around these stars.
所以应该有时间
So there should be time
让这些大质量恒星形成行星
for these massive stars to form planets.
事实上，当我们观察大质量恒星的残余时
And in fact, when we look at the remnants of massive stars,
我们确实发现了它们周围的岩石行星
we indeed find rocky planets around them,
所以就我们所知
so as far as we can tell,
这些恒星应该有世界围绕着它们运转
these stars really should have worlds orbiting them.
想象一下，一个孤独的、岩石世界
Imagine a lone, rocky world
被一颗红色超巨星发出的遥远的光温暖着
warmed by the far-distant light of a red supergiant star.
简单的生命依附在这颗年轻星球
Simple life clings to shallow rock pools
表面浅浅的岩石池中，然而它们的
on the young planet's surface, but their warm,
温暖舒适的生存注定要毁灭
comfortable existence is doomed.
在深空中某处，遥远的超级巨星太阳
High in the sky, the far-distant supergiant sun
正在燃烧它最后的氢燃料
is burning through the last of its hydrogen fuel.
引力向内的力量战胜了
The force of gravity pushing in
核聚变向外的力量
overcomes the force of fusion pushing out,
两万亿亿亿吨♥
and 20,000 trillion trillion tons of hot,
炽热燃烧的氢气
burning hydrogen gas collapses down
在太空中坍塌成一个点
into a single point in space.
一个黑洞
A black hole.
令人惊讶的是，使非新星如此黑暗的黑洞
Surprisingly, the black hole that makes the unnova so dark
并没有让周围的行星立即处于危险之中
doesn't put the planet in immediate danger.
这是对本片最大的误解之一
This is one of the biggest misconceptions of movies,
就是突然间，当恒星
is that suddenly, when the star becomes
变成黑洞时，以为行星就要被吸进去
a black hole, then the planet is going to be sucked into it.
黑洞的引力
The gravity of the black hole