行星（2019）

汤博区 冥王星之心
这个心形靠西的一瓣叫作斯普特尼克平原
The western lobe of the heart is called Sputnik Planitia.
这个广阔的平原由富含氮 甲烷和一氧化碳的冰体构成
A giant plain of frozen nitrogen, methane and carbon monoxide...
面♥积♥达100万平方公里
..that stretches for a million square kilometres.
平原的边缘是绵延的山脉
And, at its edge, lies a range of mountains made of pure,
由纯净的水冰组成
frozen water ice...
高出平原6公里之多
..that rise up to 6km above the plain.
不过这个区域有个不同寻常的特点
But there's something very strange about the region,
使它有别于这个矮行星其余所有地方
something that sets it apart from the rest of this dwarf planet.
冥王星表面遍布撞击坑
The surface of Pluto is covered in craters, the scars
是数十亿年前天体撞击留下的疤痕
of impacts that have taken place over many billions of years,
就像月球的表面一样
just like the surface of our moon.
但我们看到的斯普特尼克平原十分平坦
Except, if you look on Sputnik Planitia, it is absolutely smooth.
上面是完全没有撞击坑存在的 连一个也不存在
There are no craters there at all, not a single one.
在宇宙空间中 没有撞击坑是很不可思议的
From space, the lack of craters is striking.
我们观察的距离越近 它的秘密就越发让人不解
And, the closer you look, the stranger the mystery gets.
“新视野”号♥传回的精细图像显示
Detailed imagery beamed back by New Horizons revealed a network
一大♥片♥六边形和五边形的结构
of hexagon and pentagon shapes...
在氮冰表面纵横交错
..that crisscross the frozen nitrogen surface.
找到成因的一个线索就在这些图像里
A clue to what might be happening can be seen in these images.
这类地表形态在宇宙的其它地方也能找到
Those kind of patterns are found elsewhere in nature.
比如这个是在太阳表面
Here, for example, on the surface of the Sun.
或者这个 从下方被加热的液体物质
Or here, in a liquid that's been heated from below.
这些图案是对流的典型特征
These patterns are characteristic of convection.
它要有一个热源让物质做上升运动
There's a heat source which is causing material to rise up,
物质冷却后又会下降回来 对流的液体
and then it cools and falls back again, and in those circulating
不断循环往复之后 就会出现这样的图案
convection currents, you tend to get patterns like this.
所以斯普特尼克平原下面可能是这种情况
So, what could be happening below the surface of Sputnik Planitia
地下深处有一个热源 它不断融化氮冰
is that there is a heat source deep down which is melting the nitrogen
导致它上升 冷却 然后下降
ice and causing it to rise, cool and then fall again,
那些对流的液体不断重塑着这一地区的面貌
and those convection currents are constantly resurfacing the area.
冥王星这样的小星球依然很活跃 这是个巨大的惊喜
That a small world like Pluto is still active was a huge surprise.
我们对此最合理的解释就是
Our best theory of how this could be
星球内部深处的某个地方
is that somewhere deep in its interior...
一些放射性物质在它们衰变的过程中不断产生热量
..there are radioactive elements that generate heat as they decay.
这股热量不断温暖着一个没有光照 呈半冰冻状态的海洋
This heat warms a sunless, half-frozen ocean of water
它已在冥王星地表之下存在了数十亿年之久
that has existed for billions of years beneath the surface of Pluto.
来自斯普特尼克平原的证据表明
Now, the evidence from Sputnik Planitia that there is still
星球内部的热源依然存在 通过研究冥王星
an internal heat source, and studies of other geological features
其它的地质特征 一些科学家推测
on Pluto, have led some scientists to suggest that
那个海洋可能还在原地
that ocean of water might still be there.
一个相对较暖的海洋
And the relatively warm ocean
或许能解释为什么斯普特尼克平原没有撞击坑
could explain the lack of craters on Sputnik Planitia.
在氮冰表面缓慢上升的过程中
The entire area is constantly being repaved as the nitrogen
整个区域不断地被重塑
surface is slowly turned over.
但是为什么这种地质活动只会在这里出现呢
But why all this activity here and nowhere else?
也许冥王星之心所在的地方发生过猛烈撞击
Perhaps Pluto's heart is the site of a huge impact...
很久以前 它的表面被撞出了一个大洞
..that, long ago, punched a large hole in the surface,
几乎深及那片广阔的地下海洋
almost down to the vast ocean beneath.
这个洞渐渐地被并不坚硬的氮冰所填满
A hole that's slowly filled with soft nitrogen ice...
这个温暖海洋促使其上的氮冰缓慢翻腾
..that now gently churns just above a warmer ocean.
想象一下
Imagine that.
有一片海洋 距离太阳数十亿公里之遥
An ocean billions of miles away from the Sun,
位于太阳系寒冷的边缘地带
on the frozen frontier of the solar system.
在这个最令人惊讶的星球上
On this most surprising of worlds,
也许仍然存在着大量的水
there may still be an ocean of water.
“新视野”号♥与冥王星最亲密的邂逅只持续了数小时
New Horizons' closest encounter with Pluto lasted just hours...
这个过程中只有一个半球是可见的
..during which only one hemisphere was visible...
它的另一面仍是一个谜
..leaving the other side a mystery.
冥王星给了我们最后一个惊喜
Pluto held a final surprise.
就在“新视野”号♥调转镜头 准备再看最后一眼时
As New Horizons turned its camera back for one, last look...
它拍到了冥王星大气层
..it captured an image of Pluto's atmosphere,
在黑暗中闪耀的图像
glowing in the dark.
个薄薄的蓝色大气层 下面隐藏着一片汪♥洋♥
A thin, blue sky over a hidden ocean of water...
这个地方与地球的距离是48亿公里
..4.8 billion kilometres from Earth.
人类取得的成就是巨大的
We've come a long way.
通过仅仅半个世纪的空间探测
After just half a century of space exploration...
我们造访了太阳系的每一个行星
..we've reached every one of the planets in the solar system...
并开始讲述关于它们的故事
..and begun to tell their story.
我们所呈现的是永不停息的变化
What's emerging is a tale of never-ending change...
扣人心弦的起源
..of dramatic origins...
充满希望的瞬间
..moments of hope...
还有逝去
..and loss.
8个岩质的 冰冻的以及气态的尘埃
Where just eight motes of rock, ice and gas...
以黑暗的宇宙空间为幕布
..set against the dark backdrop of space...
它们齐心协力 至少在其中一个世界创造出了生命
..have conspired together to produce life on at least one world.
有些人会问 我们为什么要探索宇宙
"Why do we explore?" some people ask.
难道我们不应该先处理好地球上的种种问题 然后再投入时间
Shouldn't we deal with the problems here on Earth before committing time
精力和资源 去探索那些星星吗
and energy and resources to exploring the stars?
我认为把注意力完全放在地球 这个宇宙尘埃上
Well, I think focusing entirely on our mote of dust
是莫大的错误
would be a profound mistake.
那将意味着我们人类决定蜷缩在
It would mean that we've taken the decision to sit huddled
太阳系的一个小角落里
in a tiny corner of the solar system,
对我们所做的事情迷惑不解
wondering what we're doing here.
那将意味着我们人类决定为了
It would mean that we've taken the decision to fight amongst
越来越珍贵的资源而相互斗争
ourselves for ever-more-precious resources,
把自己限制在一层薄薄的大气之下 一块渺小的岩石之上
confined below a thin shell of air on a small rock,
而不是去探索那条由夜晚星光
rather than following the three-dimensional path marked out
勾勒出的立体的路径
by the lights in the night.
我们住在一个充满奇迹的太阳系
We live in a solar system of wonders,
这里有风暴肆虐的行星 冰冻的卫星 还有各种地貌和景观
of planets of storms and moons of ice and landscapes and vistas
它们激发我们的想象力 丰富着我们的精神世界
that stir the imagination and enrich the soul,
太阳系有着无尽的资源 无与伦比的美丽
a system of limitless resources, limitless beauty
以及无限的潜力
and limitless potential.
我们对太阳系的探索才刚刚起步
A system that we've only just begun to explore...
而这趟旅程已经给了我们众多收获
..in a journey that has already rewarded us with so much.
《行星》幕后故事
冥王星是美国国家航♥空♥航♥天♥局计划探测过的最遥远的星球
Pluto was the most distant world that Nasa had ever planned to visit.
10 9 8 7
Ten, nine, eight, seven...
“新视野”号♥的发射格外紧张刺♥激♥
The launch of New Horizons was incredibly dramatic.
点火 升空
Mission... And liftoff.
它升空的速度太快了
And it just shoots up so fast.
是地球上速度最快的一次发射
It's the fastest launch ever from Earth.
速度大约是每秒10英里
About ten miles per second.
为了确保探测器能在宇宙中持续飞行10年之后
In order to ensure that it was going to last for the decade across space
戴维-格林斯普恩博士 行星科学研究所
还能正常工作 他们做了很多备份工作
and actually work there, they built in a lot of redundancy.
基本上所有东西都有备份 包括计算机
There were sort of two of everything, computers
导航系统
and the guidance systems,
他们还想出了让它休眠的办法
and they figured out how to hibernate.
它是第一个休眠的探测器
The first spacecraft that hibernated.
我们让探测器大部分时间在睡觉
To put the spacecraft largely to sleep let the spacecraft
让它只是安静地漫游太空
just silently coast,
这样我们就能延长电子器件的寿命了
then we could extend the life of the electronics.
此前没有一架探测器
No spacecraft mission had ever really used hibernation
艾伦·斯特恩 “新视野”号♥首席研究员
以连续休眠的方式飞越太阳系
as a day-to-day way to cross the solar system.
这架探测器在睡梦中
As the spacecraft slept,
加速飞离地球 驶向了它的目的地
it sped away from Earth towards its destination...
那是几乎在整个人类历史长河中
..to a world that had lain hidden
都淹没在群星中的一个星球
amongst the stars for almost all of human history.
冥王星发现于1930年 一个来自堪萨斯州的
The discovery of Pluto was in 1930, when Clyde Tombaugh,
哈尔·韦弗 “新视野”号♥项目科学家
农场小伙克莱德·汤博
a Kansas farm boy,
用亚利桑那州当地一座天文台的望远镜发现了它
was using the telescope at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona.
每个晴朗的夜晚
Every clear night,
克来德都会到外面
Clyde would go out and take images
凯西·奥尔金 “新视野”号♥副首席研究员
用带底片的相机拍摄夜空 然后在多云
of the sky on photographic plates, and when it was cloudy
或者白天的时候 比较这些底片
or during the day, he would compare those plates.
克莱德·汤博发现有个小光点
And Clyde Tombaugh noticed that there was this little speck
在群星中移♥动♥
moving across the stars.
后来在1930年 克莱德·汤博发现了冥王星
And, then, in 1930, Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto.