了解宇宙是如何运行的（2010）

How the Universe Works S05E02

Part 1 April 18, 2021, 7:46 p.m.

我们以为我们了解太阳系
We thought we knew our solar system.
结果我们错了
Turns out we were wrong.
突破性的观测表明
Groundbreaking observations suggest
在我们太阳系的边缘
an unseen ninth planet
可能有一颗未被发现的第九大行星
may be out there on the fringes of our solar system.
它可能是巨大的
And it could be huge,
比冥王星大5000倍
5,000 times more massive than pluto
是地球的10倍
and 10 times the mass of the earth.
近斯我们在天文学上没有太多的革命性发现
We don't get a lot of revolutions in astronomy.
现在我们正处在这样一个发现的风口浪尖上
And here we are on the cusp of a discovery like this.
想想看，虽然我们对宇宙的了解很多
It's crazy to think that,
但还有第九颗行星是我们从未见过的
as much as we've looked into the universe,
这真是太疯狂了
that there's this ninth planet out there that we've never seen.
如果9号♥行星真的存在
If planet 9 really is out there,
它会是什么样子?
what will it be like?
它是岩石构成的超级地球
Is it a rocky super-earth,
还是冰覆盖的超级冥王星
an icy mega-pluto,
或是气态的迷你海王星?
or a gassy mini-Neptune?
又或者9号♥行星是从另一颗恒星上
Or is planet 9 an alien world
偷来的外星世界?
stolen from another star?
它是否能为离太阳1000亿英里的生命
And could it provide an unlikely home for life
提供一个不太可能的家园?
100 billion miles from the sun?
神秘的第九大行星
漂浮在头顶的
take a look at the night sky.
星星的图案
The pattern of stars
看起来是固定的
that drifts overhead appears fixed.
但如果观察更长时间、几周或几个月
But look for longer, weeks or months,
你会看到一些点在移♥动♥
and you'll see a handful of the points move.
这些缓慢移♥动♥的光点就是行星
These slow-moving points of light are the planets,
即围绕我们的主恒星——太阳
the giant chunks of rock or gas
运行的巨大的岩石或气体块
that orbit our home star, the sun.
我们以为只有八个
We thought there were eight.
我们错了
We were wrong.
你知道，我们认为我们了解的东西
You know, we think we understand something
就像我们的太阳系非常简单
as simple as our solar system.
我们以为已经找到了所有的行星
We've found all the planets.
然而就在我们面前，我们错过了一些重要的东西。
And, right in front of us, we missed something big.
一组天文学家正在研究柯伊伯带
A group of astronomers are studying the kuiper belt,
这是一个巨大的冰封的小行星带
a vast band of icy asteroids
位于海王星轨道之外
that sits way, way outside the orbit of Neptune.
这些天体大多围绕太阳
Most of these objects move in a neat, circular formation
呈整齐的圆形运动
around the sun.
但有一小群天体似乎打破了规则
But the astronomers are puzzled by a small group
在主环带之外的广阔轨道上游荡
that appear to break the rules,
这让天文学家们
swinging far outside the main belt
感到困惑
on wild, extended orbits.
柯伊伯带外的某种东西
Something sitting far outside the kuiper belt
似乎在把这些小行星拉离原来的轨道
seems to be pulling these asteroids out of line,
是某种巨大行星大小的东西
something the size of a giant planet.
加州理工学院的天文学家迈克·布朗
Caltech astronomer Mike brown hears
听说了这个观测结果
about the wild observations
决心要证明第9行星理论是错误的
and is determined to prove the planet theory wrong.
当我们看到所有这些天体的排列时
When we saw these alignments of all
我们想
these objects out there, we thought,
“啊，每个人都会说有一颗行星
"ugh, everybody's gonna say there's a planet.
我们必须非常有力地证明没有这颗行星。”
We have to very strongly prove there's not a planet."
因为，当然，我们都知道
Because, of course, we all know
外面没有另一颗行星那太荒唐了
there's not another planet out there. That's ridiculous.
迈克让他的同事康斯坦丁·巴蒂金(konstantin batygin)
Mike asked his colleague, konstantin batygin,
进行计算机模拟
to run a computer simulation
看看第九颗行星
to see what effect a ninth planet
会对柯伊伯带产生什么影响
should have on the kuiper belt.
令人惊讶的是，该模拟
Stunningly, the simulation predicts
预测了拉长的轨道
elongated orbits identical
与已经观测到的轨道相同
to ones already observed.
另外模拟还带来了另一个惊喜
But the simulation also spits out a surprise.
应该还有第二组偏离的轨道
There should be a second set of rogue orbits
与第一组轨道相垂直
that are perpendicular to the first set.
如果迈克能确定
If Mike can locate these weird
柯伊伯带内这些奇怪的预测天体的位置
predicted objects inside the kuiper belt,
那么9号♥行星几乎肯定是真实存在的
planet 9 is almost certainly real.
我把这些模拟结果
I took these simulation results to Mike's office
拿到离我办公室不远的迈克的办公室
just a couple doors down from my office.
我说，“看!”你知道“我们有一个大问题!”
And I said, "look!" You know, "we've got a huge problem!"
他说:“不！
He said, "no!
有一个物体叫做2012 dr30
There's an object called 2012 dr30
它的轨道和你预测的完全一样”
which has an orbit just like the one you're predicting."
迈克的小行星完全符合预测
Mike's asteroid fits the prediction perfectly.
他搜索了更多的记录
He searches the records for more and finds another four
发现了另外四个似乎在正确的区域
that seem to be in the right area.
但它们与预测的吻合程度有多高呢?
But just how closely will they fit the prediction?
我记得我当时坐下来想
I remember sitting back and thinking,
“好吧，我们现在要把数据
"okay, we're going to, right now, plot the data,
真实的观测数据，画在模型的上面”
the real observational data on top of the model."
迈克说“如果这两个匹配
And Mike said, "if these two match up,
我的下巴都要掉到地上了”
my jaw is just gonna drop to the floor."
理论上说它们应该在这里和这里
The theory says they should be right here and right here.
我很快地计算了一下
And I did the calculations very quickly
看看它们在哪里，然后把它们标出来。
to see where they were and brought them up.
他们就在那里一，二，三，四，五
And there they are. One, two, three, four, five,
就在这几行
right on these lines
我们预测它们应该在的地方
exactly where we predicted they should be.
在我们看到这一幕的那一刻
The moment we saw this,
我们从谨慎变成了
we went from cautious
“天哪!这是真的！
to "holy cow! This really is there!
我们必须确保马上告诉所有人
We have to make sure to tell everybody right away
因为这是真的！”
because it's actually real!"
迈克和康斯坦丁揭开了太阳系最大的秘密
Mike and konstantin had unlocked
几乎可以肯定
the solar system's greatest secret.
9号♥行星是真实存在的
Planet 9 was almost certainly real.
它必须非常巨大
And it had to be huge,
可能是地球质量的10倍
perhaps 10 times the mass of earth.
我们说的不是月球
We're not talking about something like our moon
或冥王星之类的东西
or pluto. We're talking about something
我们说的是一颗行星大小的行星
that is literally planet-sized.
我们看到它的引力尾流
And we're seeing its gravitational wake
影响着其他物体
affecting these other objects.
有可能存在一颗
The idea that there could be a giant planet
我们从未见过的巨大行星
that we've never seen is something I think
我想大多数人都不会相信
most of people wouldn't have bet on.
但证据是非常显著的！
But the evidence is remarkable!
为了证明9号♥行星的存在
To prove planet 9 exists,
天文学家需要用望远镜观察它
astronomers need to see it with their telescopes.
但是有一个问题
But there's a problem.
计算机模拟只能给出在哪里找到它的
Computer simulations only give a broad idea
大致的位置
of where to find it.
9号♥行星非常微弱
And planet 9 is incredibly faint
而且非常遥远
and almost inconceivably far away.
它比我们想象的要远得多
It's much, much farther out
如果它在椭圆轨道上运行
than we ever expected to find planets.
它的大部分时间
It probably spends most of its life,
可能都在离太阳太远的地方度过
if it's on an elliptical orbit,
而我们刚刚错过了它
so far away from the sun that we just missed it.
那么第九颗行星有多远呢?
So just how far away is planet 9?
要真正了解它巨大的轨道
The only way to truly appreciate its vast orbit
唯一的方法就是建立一个比例模型
is to build a scale model,
这也许是迄今为止尝试过的
perhaps the biggest working model of the solar system
最大的太阳系运行模型
ever attempted.
行星科学家凯文·沃尔什在这里发号♥施令
Planetary scientist Kevin Walsh is here to call the shots.
他从太阳的大小开始
And he starts with the size of the sun.