宇宙（2007）

The Universe S05E08

Part 1 April 22, 2021, 1:50 p.m.

In the beginning, there was darkness,
最初宇宙是一片黑暗
and then, bang, giving birth
紧接着一声巨响混沌初开
to an endless, expanding existence
时间空间和物质
of time, space and matter.
开始不断膨胀
Every day, new discoveries are unlocking the mysterious,
每天我们都在解密这神秘莫测
the mind-blowing, the deadly secrets
令人疯狂的极端之地
of a place we call the Universe.
宇宙
It's the apocalyptic finale of our galactic neighborhood.
它是银河系领域末日终结者
Probably the most dramatic event
它也许是整个太阳系历史中
in the entire history of the solar system.
最壮观的景象
We've now uncovered sizzling clues
我们已经知晓这颗母星
about our home star's violent demise.
即将猛烈活动直至死亡
And the outcome doesn't look good for planet Earth.
这结果似乎对地球极为不利
You could experience both death by fire
也许被热死
and also death by ice.
也许被冻死
New cutting-edge science traces
新一代尖端科学发现
the real horrors awaiting our planet
待太阳释放出最后能量
as our Sun unleashes its final fury.
极度恐慌就将降临到地球上
The kiss of death for everything.
一切均将灭亡
Our Sun.
我们的太阳
It's bathed us wth light and energy
已经用光亮和能量孕育了我们
for over 4.5 billion years.
45亿余年
But like all things in the cosmos,
然而像宇宙万物一样
our nurturing star will eventually die.
我们的母星最终会走向灭亡
And Earth could literally melt into the sunset.
地球也将随之逐渐消亡
When the Sun gets a hundred times brighter than it is now,
当太阳光亮比现在增强一百倍时
the entire surface of the Earth will be incinerated.
整个地球表面将化为灰烬
All the rock that composes the continents will melt
组成陆地的岩石也将熔化
and run into seas of molten lava.
并汇合成为大面♥积♥熔岩
The Earth will be uninhabitable.
地球将不再适宜居住
The death of our Sun
太阳之死
will have a profound effect on our cosmic world.
对宇宙影响深远
We rely on our home star,
我们依赖着母星
located in the center of our solar system.
它位于太阳系的中心
Over one million Earths could easily fit
这个巨大熔岩球体
inside this gargantuan ball of bubbling gas
能够轻松装下百万余个地球
with core temperatures reaching 30 million degrees Fahrenheit.
其内核温度达到三千万华氏度
The Sun is approximately 93 million miles away,
太阳距离我们大约九千三百万英里
so Earth is not too hot or too cold.
因此地球表面冷热适宜
It's the perfect distance to sustain oceans
这是形成液态海水
of liquid water and abundant life.
和多样生物的完美距离
We're incredibly dependent
我们的生存特别依赖于
on the Sun's energy for our survival.
太阳所提供的能量
First and foremost, plants utilize solar energy
首先植物利用阳光
in photosynthesis so that they can grow.
进行光合作用才能够生长
And then, we use plants for food
然后我们利用植物获取食物
and so do other animals,
其他动物也是如此
And we eat those other animals.
我们也食用那些动物的肉
We also use the fossil fuels
我们还使用由腐烂植物
from partially decayed plants.
转变来的矿物燃料
Winds are also generated by the Sun's heat.
风能也是由太阳热量产生的
We're using solar energy everywhere.
我们随处都在利用太阳能量
All this life-giving heat and light
所有这些赋予生命的热能和光能
comes from the Sun's core,
都来自于太阳内核
a colossal nuclear reactor comprised of
这里就像个巨大的核反应堆
three-quarters hydrogen and the rest mostly helium
四分之三是氢气余下为氦气
with traces of heavier elements.
还有少量重元素
Here, hydrogen nuclei combine to form helium nuclei.
在这里氢原子核组合形成氦原子核
This process called fusion gives off radiant energy.
这个过程称为聚变能够释放辐射能量
This car is like a newly formed star like the Sun.
这辆车就好比刚生成时的恒星太阳
When a star like the Sun is born,
当太阳诞生时
it's born with a full tank of gas.
随之诞生的还有一整箱油
So if I fill this tank with gas,
如果我将油箱灌满
that's like the hydrogen coming together gravitationally,
就像氢元素被吸引到一起
forming a hot, dense core.
组成一个炙热高密度内核
That gas will later burn.
油继而燃烧
In the case of a star,
在恒星中
hydrogen will fuse to form helium,
氢元素将融合组成氦元素
giving the star energy.
向恒星供给能量
Just as in the case of the gas burning in the car,
就像油在车里燃烧
that'll give the car energy with which to move.
将提供车运动所需能量
Like an automobile,
就像一辆汽车
the Sun will eventually run out of fuel,
太阳也会耗尽燃料
and Earth will be without this crucial power source.
地球也将失去这个赖以生存的能量之源
The rate at which it's fusing hydrogen into helium,
氢元素聚合生成氦元素的不对称比例
it will someday simply run out of hydrogen in its core.
最终会导致内核中氢元素耗尽
We can see other similar stars
这可以借鉴其他类似星体
that were born much earlier than the Sun,
它们诞生时间早于太阳
and they're now dying.
现在已经逐渐消亡
To track our Sun's dark future,
为了追踪太阳之死
we travel back in time to its beginning.
我们回到了它诞生之时
These exotic clouds of gas and dust are called nebulas.
这些奇异的气体云雾被称做星云
They consist of the remnants of dying stars.
由正在消亡的天体残余物组成
But upon closer observation,
但根据最新研究
they're actually stellar nurseries
它们是孕育
where stars like our Sun were born.
恒星的温床
About 4 1/2 billion years ago in our galaxy,
大约四十五亿年前的银河系中
a giant cloud of gas and dust
一团巨大的气体云雾
gradually was pulled together by gravity.
在引力的作用下逐渐聚集起来
And as gravity caused that cloud to collapse,
当引力作用使得星云崩溃时
a lot of energy was released,
大量能量释放出来
it heated up and finally, in the center,
中心地带急速升温
nuclear reaction started changing hydrogen into helium
核反应开始促使氢元素转变为氦元素
and a new star was born.
一颗新星就这样诞生了
The remaining stellar material swirled around the newborn Sun.
余下的星际物质围绕新生太阳转动
It collided and coalesced,
发生碰撞并接合在一起
eventually sculpting the eight planets
最终形成太阳系的八个星球
in our solar system including Earth.
同时包括地球
When that happened, a stellar wind turned on
当时星风开始将
and cleared out all the extra material
所有其他物质清理干净
leaving the planets that we have today
只留下了我们现在所知的星球
and additional bodies,
和其他一些天体
some of which collided or merged with the other planets.
其中有些发生碰撞或与其他星球融为一体
Among the billions of points of light in the universe,
在宇宙无数的发光源之中
our Sun is an average star.
我们的太阳只是一个普通的天体
There are stars 100 times its mass.
还有比它大一百倍的天体
And contrary to its appearance,
太阳真实的颜色
the true color of the Sun
与日升日落时呈现的颜色
differs from what we see when it rises and sets.
大不相同
The Sun is actually a white star, not a yellow star.
太阳其实是个白色天体并非黄色
It's white like this car.
白得像这辆车
Now, it's true that the peak of its spectrum
光谱的峰值
is sort of in the yellow region,
是黄色光波
but it also emits some blue light and green light,
但也发出一些蓝♥光♥和绿光
and orange and red.
还有橙色红色光
And all those colors together
所有这些颜色聚集在一起
are perceived by our retina and our brain
被我们的视网膜和大脑所接收
as the color white.
就成为白色
Our Sun has a lot in common with humans.
太阳和我们人类有很多共同之处
When it was young,
当它年轻时
it was extremely active and often unpredictable.
十分活跃毫无规律
What we found was really very surprising.
我们发现它真是惊奇之物
We found that stars like the Sun,
当类似太阳的天体
when they're very young,
在年轻时
Are rotating much, much faster than today.
转速比现在快很多
If you can imagine something as big as the Sun
想象一颗飞速旋转
just whipping around in one day or even less,
自转周期只有一天或者更短的太阳
that was a very different kind of Sun.
那可就大不一样了
It's having all kinds of eruptions
上面会发生各种爆♥炸♥与喷发
that blasted particles through space that hit the Earth.
不断地向地球发射出粒子