宇宙（2007）

The Universe S01E10

Part 3 April 22, 2021, 8:13 p.m.

包围着我们即将消失的太阳
With the core unable to musterany more nuclear fusion,
有了核心所爆发的能量
can it possibly survive gravity'scrushing grip?
很可能会逃过引力引起的爆♥炸♥
As a star the size of our Sun dies,it ejects its outer layers.
伴随我们大阳的消失｝宇浴火重生的行星宙一一一
With no nuclear reactions to generateoutward pressure,
逐渐进入到外层空间里
gravity gains the upper hand.
没有外力来去除这样的引力
The star begins to fall inon itself,
引力将逐渐获取先机
like a climber too tired to hold onto his rope.
行星开始逐渐缩小
There's one possibility that the rockclimber might be able to use
就像绳子承载过重的重量
if he gets too tired to hold onto the rope any more,
攀登者或许可以利用一个机会
and that is if he can find a ledgeon the rock that he's climbing.
当他变得过累，无法坚持的时候
在岩石的边缘上寻找
Gravity can pull on himonly once
可以对抗引波尔比萨加州大学利分校
but the ledge itself will supporthim against gravity.
And he doesn't have to provideany more energy to win his fight.
它获得了足够的能量与之对抗
There's a certain kind of star, andour Sun is actually an example of this,
我们的太阳是其中的一个例子
where the star finds that it hasan "out" in this fight against gravity.
我们的行星想寻找一个对抗的方法对抗引力
The contracting star finds its ledgein a surprising place: electrons,
对抗中的行星，寻找到一个依托的地方
电子磁场
tiny, negatively chargedatomic particles.
负向的消极对抗粒子
Electrons don't like being compressedso they're very close to one another,
电子就像是挤阿历克斯?费压在一起爵利普科加州大学伯克利分校
因为电子们对对方并不是很喜欢
because electrons effectivelydon't like each other.
If you compact the electrons hard enough,the pressure of the electrons themselves
加果你用力的挤压电子
压力本身就可以对抗引力
is able to hold up the staragainst gravity.
When the core of our dyingSun-like star
当我们即将消亡的行星内核要崩溃的时候
is crushed to aboutthe size of the Earth,
就加同对抗地球的引力一样
this so-called "electron degeneracypressure" takes over.
所谓的电子对抗力就会产生
引力无法进一步破坏行星
Gravity can collapse the starno further.
其中有一颗行星类似现在的情形
It's left to slowly cool into a bizarrestellar remnant known as a "White Dwarf".
它被叫做白接星
就像是这一颗
Like this one, Sirius B,
B系列的
which can be seen only faintly asideits companion Sirius,
可以看清晰的看到它
the brighter star in our sky.
它是我们星空中最耀眼的一颗
Now, a white dwarf is a very strangetype of star.
白接星是非常奇怪的一颗
非常非常有趣
It's very, very dense.
The white dwarf has about 300,000times the mass of the Earth,
白接星的体积和地球相比
大约是地球的3000倍以上
compressed into a volumethe size of the Earth.
相对地球来说，体积非常大
If you had just a teaspoon full ofmaterial, it would weigh several tons.
只算球体重量的一部分的话
可能重量就有几吨♥重
So, it's really amazing stuff.
这是很神奇的东西
A white dwarf is the final stagein the life of a Sun-like star.
白接星进入到发展的最后一个阶段
But it's not quite dead yet.
但是它还没有消亡
它还会继续闪耀数百万年
It will continue to shinefor billions of years
as it gradually radiates awaya lifetime of energy.
一直到它消耗尽一生储备下来的能量
I like to call white dwarfs"retired stars",
我观察了白接星的整个运行过程
in the sense that all of the lightthat they are shining,
所有闪耀的星光
那是它们一生积攒下来的能量
is energy that they accumulated duringtheir normal lives as stars,
while they were fusing light elementsinto heavy elements,
它们逐渐形成了一种新的元素
as our Sun is doingright now.
就像我们现在太阳所做的
So, it's spending its life savings,it's a retired star.
将一生所积攒的东西拿出来
这就是整个行星所做的
That will be the fate of our Sun.
这也是我们太阳的命运
But some white dwarfs can haveone last hurrah,
但是有些白接星有特别的运行过程
thanks to a friend who lendsa helping hand.
感谢我们的朋友伸出了援助之手
Because, although our Sunis a cosmic loner,
因为尽管我们的太阳，不断的释放出能量
more than half of all stars travelthrough life with at least one companion.
超过一般的行星，都会在旅途中寻找到伴侣
Most stars are members of binaries,or possibly even multiple star systems.
很多行星都会存在复杂的系统里乔斯纳?巴恩斯l夏威夷大学
Close binary stars
靠近一个不同的行星，会让它们改变命运
can have very different fates fromthe ordinary single stars.
这比单单一个行星命运好很多
If a white dwarf is gravitationallybound to another star
加果是白接星的力量产生了另夕卜一个行星
as part of a binary system,
它就存在于这个系统里面
it can essentially steal the lifebloodfrom its companion.
它甚至可以偷走一生的积蓄
这样它就获得一个伙伴
The small but dense white dwarfexerts such a strong gravitational pull
一个很小而，但是随着白接星舞的行星
在这样一个强烈的力量当中
that it will start siphoning offa stream of hydrogen gas.
它会消耗掉很多氢能量
加果从子母星那里获得氢能量
If it gathers material froma companion star,
and is able to grow in mass,
它就可以增长起来
到最后，巨大的白接星
then eventually, the mass of thewhite dwarf can reach an unstable limit,
可以到达一个无限的境地
roughly 40% more thanthe mass of our Sun.
大约是太阳体积的四分之一
At that point, the white dwarfundergoes a catastrophic explosion,
在这一点上
白接星经历一个巨大的爆♥炸♥过程
where the whole thing goes offin a blinding flash.
而整个行星都经历了这个爆♥炸♥过程
What's called the "thermonuclearrunaway" of the entire star.
也就是行星的爆♥炸♥
它消耗了整个行星
This mammoth explosion is knownas a Type Ia Supernova.
这个巨大的爆♥炸♥被称作是超级风暴
So, if our Sun were to do this,and it won't,
加果我们的太阳这样做，就完了
it'll die in a relatively quiet way...
它会很快的消亡
But if it were to do this,you'd need
加果它要这么做，需要很多因素
sunblock or supernova-blockof a few billion
可能要耗费数百万才能保护自己
in order to protect yourselffrom the blinding flash.
躲过这样的爆♥炸♥
危险、这一设备自动运转
University of California Berkeleyastronomer, Alex Filippenko,
宇宙的虚拟过程要一个很复杂的过程
is one of the world's most successfulsupernova hunters.
人们在不断探究其原理
他的小组已经寻找到600多颗行星
His team has found over 600of them in the past decade.
而只用了10年时间
An incredible feat
而在每个星系里，或许每颗行星都有自己的命运
considering they occur perhaps twiceper century in each galaxy.
Searching for supernovas
寻找一颗行星，这加同在足球场上寻找一个人
is akin to scanning a crowdedfootball stadium with binoculars,
复杂程度相似
in hopes of catching the one personwho might be taking a flash photograph
而找到一个需要寻找的人
并且将镜头聚焦在他身上，这需要很久时间
at a given point in time.
If you were to look at each personindividually, one by one,
要一个个的观察这些人
you would have a hard time
那将是很困难的
finding the person who happensto be taking a flash photo.
加果你只利用照相机这样的工具的话
费利普恩为了寻找一颗行星，并且进行观察
Filippenko increases his odds
by expanding his search beyondsingle stars,
他耗费了很多时间
or even single galaxies.
或者整个星系
To do this he enlists the help ofa very high-tech assistant.
为了观他寻找到一个的系统
So this is a roboticsearch engine
for exploding stars,supernovae.
这些都是为了探究行星的
It has been programmed torobotically take photographs
这是一个项目
用机器人来拍摄照片
of over a thousand galaxiesa night,
对上千个星系进行研究观测
and over the course of a weekit does 7 or 8,000 galaxies,
当然，一个星期就有几万个星系
and then it repeats the process
然后重复这个过程
comparing the new pictures ofeach galaxy with old pictures.
并对每个星系进行观察
用新旧照片做对比
Usually there's nothing new in thenew picture, but occasionally,
通常在一张新的照片里没有新行星
但是偶尔、一颗行星会诞生
a star blows up,a supernova goes off.
一颗超级的行星诞生
And then you can see in the newpicture a bright point of light
可以通过新的照片观察到
白色的光芒，在旧照片里是找不到的
that wasn't there in anythe old pictures.
Though a supernova is visuallyvery, very bright,
但是在视觉上，那是非常明亮的
the visible light is only one percentof one percent of the total energy.
可见的光芒
只存在总能量中的百万分之一
1/10,000 of the entire energyemitted by this colossal explosion.
在这次爆♥炸♥里，占整个星系能量的几亿分之一
Although type IA supernovas comefrom exploding white dwarfs,
尽管这留下很小的痕迹
他们还是捕捉到一些画面
many others, known asType II supernovas,
这是很多行星中的一颗
signal the dramatic deathsof much more massive stars,
perhaps 8 or 10 timesmore massive than the Sun.
或许它们比太阳还要大上几倍
和它们微小粒子的撞击不同
Unlike their smaller cousins,
when massive stars exhausttheir hydrogen fuel,
当大型的行星失去能量的时候
they have the raw power to startfusing other elements.
他们开始拥有破坏其它物质能量
The ashes of each set of nuclearreactions become fuel for the next,
每一次能量的爆发，都蕴藏下一次的爆发
so that near the end of its life,a massive star resembles an onion
所以在生命即将结束的时候
巨大的行星内部就像是洋葱一样
in cross-section, with an outer layerof the original fuel, hydrogen,
外层是原来的区域
surrounding layer after layerof heavier and heavier elements.
氢物质围绕着一层接一层
每层的元素重量都在不断的增加
It goes through its normal lifefusing hydrogen into helium,
这经历了一个生命历程
燃烧氢元素，然后再孕育它们
then helium into carbon and oxygen,
然后将它们转变成碳等元素
然后再转化成氛等元素
then oxygen into neon and magnesium,
and then silicon and sulfur...
就是这样一个循环不断的过程
And then, iron. The massive starbuilds up a core of iron.
接下来是钢铁
巨大的行星内核是用铁物质制♥作♥而成的
The fusion of ironinto heavier elements
但是铁这些是重的元素
doesn't do the star any good,it doesn't keep the star hot inside,
这对行星并没有好处
里面是非常热的
because fusion of iron intoheavier elements