了解宇宙是如何运行的（2010）

How the Universe Works S09E03

Part 4 March 16, 2022, 8:54 a.m.

PHIL PLAIT: The Sun is
an immense ball of plasma
直径达86万英里（约139万公里）
860,000 miles across.
我们无法阻止它
We are not going to be
able to stop it from doing
做任何它想做的事
whatever it wants to do.
我们能做的就是学会预测将要发生的事情
What we can do is learn to
predict what's going to happen.
这就是我们现在做的事情
So we're doing that now.
我们新的太阳观测舰队
Our new fleet
of solar observers
是我们的第一道防线
are our first line of defense.
菲尔·普莱特:太阳离地球
PHIL PLAIT: The Sun
is a little over
有9000多万英里（约1.45亿公里）
90 million miles from Earth.
光从那里到这里需要8分钟
It takes light a little
over eight minutes
多一点的时间
to get from there to here.
尽管日冕物质抛射的速度非常快
As rapidly as a coronal
mass ejection is traveling,
但它仍然需要几天时间才能到达这里
it still takes a few
days to get here.
我们可以通过观察太阳来判断会发生什么事件
We can watch the Sun to see
is there going to be an event,
还是即将发生什么事件？
or is an event starting?
这些卫星会告诉我们
And these satellites
can then tell
嘿，你最好小心点
us, hey, you better be careful.
你可能需要在地球上做好准备
You might need to batten
down the hatches on Earth.
但可能有一个早期的线索
But there
may be an earlier clue
舰队可以注意
the fleet can watch out for.
在太阳表面移♥动♥的巨大的黑暗区域
Vast, dark regions moving
across the solar surface
称为太阳黑子
called sunspots.
哈基姆·奥卢西:我们知道这是
HAKEEM OLUSEYI: We
know that this is
爆发前的收尾
the wind up before the release.
这东西快爆♥炸♥了
This thing is getting
ready to blow.
1989年3月，一次太阳爆发
In March of
1989, a solar eruption
导致加拿大全境停电
caused blackouts across
Canada and malfunctions
航♥天♥飞机出现故障
on board the space shuttle.
广播语♥音♥:我们已经看到3号♥油箱
RADIO VOICE: We've been
seeing some erratic pressure
出现了一些不稳定的压力信♥号♥♥，以及该系统中的
signatures out of tank 3, as
well as some manifold pressure
一些歧管压力峰值
spikes in that system.
11年后，太阳发出了
11 years
later, the Sun
强烈的耀斑，使太阳能舰队的
emitted a flare that was
so powerful it blinded
传感器失明
the solar fleet's sensors.
11年后，地球差点错过了
11 years after
that, the Earth had
有记录以来最强大的
a near-miss with the most
powerful coronal mass
日冕物质抛射
ejection ever recorded.
太阳有一个非常可预测的特性，但实际上
The Sun has a very
predictable, but actually quite
又是相当神秘的活动周期
mysterious cycle of activity.
它每11年就会变得非常非常活跃
It gets very, very
active every 11 years.
然后它又回到了平和的状态
And then it settles back down
to more of a peaceful existence.
这个11年的周期让天文学家们
This 11-year
cycle has astronomers
摸不着头脑
scratching their heads.
我们确实知道的一件事是，在剧烈的
One thing we do know is
that violent solar events
太阳活动之前，太阳表面似乎会出现暗斑
seem to be preceded by dark
patches on the solar surface.
太阳黑子
Sunspots.
哈基姆·奥卢塞伊:太阳黑子是太阳表面的
HAKEEM OLUSEYI: Sunspots are
large areas on the surface
大♥片♥区域，比地球大得多
of the Sun, much
bigger than the Earth,
是由令人难以置信的强磁场
that are caused by incredibly
strong magnetic fields
干扰等离子体流动造成的
disrupting the flow of plasma.
每过11年，这些黑子的数量
And every 11
years, these dark spots
就会增加，就像暴风雨前聚集的云一样
grow in number like clouds
gathering before a storm.
当你开始看到越来越多的太阳黑子时
When you start seeing
more and more sunspots,
你就会看到更强烈
there's an expectation
that you're
更频繁的太阳耀斑
going to see more intense and
more frequent solar flares.
但是，是什么推动了这11年的周期呢？
But what drives
this 11-year cycle?
具有讽刺意味的是
It's kind of ironic
that one of the most
关于太阳最可预测的事情之一，同时也是最神秘的事情
predictable things about the
Sun is also the most mysterious.
保罗·M·萨特:几代人以来，我们一直在为太阳黑子的周期
PAUL M. SUTTER: We've been
puzzling over the sunspot cycle
而感到困惑
for generations.
现在，我们终于有了飞往太阳的宇宙飞船
And now finally we have
spacecraft headed to the Sun
并试图给我们一些答案
to try to give us some answers.
SOHO、SDO和STEREO航♥天♥器
The SOHO, SDO,
and STEREO spacecraft
利用紫外线望远镜监测太阳的大气层
monitor the Sun's atmosphere
using ultraviolet telescopes.
他们发现了穿过太阳的
They spot flashes of
high-energy ultraviolet light
高能紫外线耀斑
moving across the Sun.
这些光波可能与
These waves of light
could be connected
太阳黑子的周期和太阳的爆发有关
to the cycle of sunspots
and to the Sun's outbursts.
因为我们在太阳表面看到的一切
Because everything
we see on the Sun's
都是由其内部深处的剧烈过程控制的
surface is controlled by violent
processes deep in its interior.
太阳是一个非常简单的“洋葱”
The Sun is a very simple onion.
最核心的地方是
At the very, very
center is the core where
核聚变发生的地方
the nuclear fusion happens.
周围的一层被称为辐射区
A layer surrounding
that is known
大部分能量在这里
as the radiative zone, where
most of the energy gets
通过辐射被推出来
pushed out through radiation.
在它的周围是所谓的
Then surrounding
that is something
对流区，那里有大量的
called the convective
zone, where there's
羽流和等离子体链，不断地
great plumes and
chains of plasma moving
上下移♥动♥，上下移♥动♥
up and down, up and down.
但与洋葱不同的是，洋葱的层会旋转
But unlike an
onion, the layers spin.
米歇尔·泰勒:太阳内部有我们
MICHELLE THALLER: There
are currents inside the Sun
从表面看不到的等离子流
we don't see from the surface.
太阳内部深处的
Layers of the Sun
deep down inside
各层旋转的速度与上面的各层不同
are rotating at different
rates than the layers above.
吉博尔·巴斯里:结果表明，太阳内部的
GIBOR BASRI: So it turns out
the inner part of the Sun
旋转速度可能是
is rotating at maybe
three times more
太阳外部的三倍
rapidly than the
outer part of the Sun.
我们还可以看到，在太阳的外部
We also can see on the
outer part of the Sun
赤道的旋转速度比两极快
that the equator is rotating
more rapidly than the pole.
这些等离子体层相互摩擦
These layers of plasma
grinding against each other
产生了太阳强大的磁场
generate the Sun's enormously
powerful magnetic field
并产生了太阳黑子、等离子体环和太阳耀斑
and give rise to sunspots,
plasma loops, and solar flares.
这种差速旋转使磁场
This differential
rotation takes the field
围绕太阳旋转
and starts twisting
it around the Sun.