宇宙的奇迹（2011）

requires some of the rarest conditions in the universe,
需要宇宙中一些很稀有的条件
and we need to look far into space to find them.
为了它们 我们得探寻更深远的空间
In a galaxy of 100 billion stars,
在一个有着一千亿恒星的星系里
these conditions will exist on average
这些条件平均每百年
for less than a minute in every century.
存在不到一分钟
That's because they're only created
因为它们只产生于
in the final death throes
那些最大的恒星
of the very largest stars...
临死前剧痛的瞬间
..Stars of at least nine times the mass of our sun.
那些恒星至少大于太阳的九倍
Only they can reach the extreme temperatures needed
只有它们能达到极致般的温度
to create large amounts of the heavy elements.
用以产生大量重金属元素
Deep in the heart of the star,
在恒星的中心深处
the core finally succumbs to gravity.
它的内核最终屈服于重力
It falls in on itself with enormous speed...
以超高速度向内塌陷
..and rebounds with colossal force.
又被巨大的力量弹回
As the blast wave collides with the outer layers of the star,
当冲击波与恒星外层相撞
it generates the highest temperatures in the universe
就产生了宇宙中最高的温度
100 billion degrees.
一千亿度
these conditions last for just 15 seconds,
这样的条件只能持续十五秒
but it's enough to form the heaviest elements like gold.
不过这足够形成黄金这样的重金属元素
It's called a supernova...
它被称为超新星
..the most powerful explosion in the universe.
宇宙中最为强力的爆♥炸♥
It's quite a thought that something as
对我们来说 像婚戒黄金一样的珍宝
precious to us as the gold in a wedding ring was
实际上也可以在一颗遥远的 数百万光年
actually forged in the death of a distant star,
甚至数亿光年远的恒星上产生
millions of light years away, billions of years ago.
这真是一件非常神奇的事情
Despite the rarity of supernovae,
不论超新星有多罕见
when they do happen,
当它确实发生的时候
they're the most dramatic events in the sky.
它们就是空中最炫目的事件
This is a picture of the Tarantula Nebula,
这是蜘蛛星云的图片
which is a cloud of gas and dust
它是银河系的卫星星系
in the Large Magellanic Cloud,
大麦哲伦星云中
which is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way,
一团云状的气体和尘土
and this is what it looks like
这就是它在一年中任何
on any clear starry night of the year.
清晰可见的繁星之夜下 观察到的样子
But on one night in 1987,
但是在1987年的一个晚上
the Tarantula Nebula looked like that.
蜘蛛星云却是这样
You can see that a new bright star has appeared in the sky.
你可以看见一颗明亮的新星出现在空中
This is a supernova explosion,
这是一颗超新星的爆♥炸♥
the explosive death of a massive star,
一颗巨大恒星的爆♥炸♥性死亡
and they're incredibly violent cosmic events,
它们是惊人的极端宇宙现象
as this picture beautifully shows.
就像这张图片表现的一样美丽
This is a galaxy
这是一个距离地球大约
about 55 million light years away from Earth,
五千五百万光年的星系
but this is a supernova explosion in that galaxy.
但那个星系里有一颗超新星爆♥炸♥
You can see that it's shining as brightly
你可以看到它就像
as the galactic core.
银河的核心一样闪亮
There may be a billion suns in that core,
那个核心里也许有十亿个太阳
and one supernova can shine as brightly as that.
但是一颗超新星就能像那一样明亮
Yet to really appreciate the scale of these explosions,
但是为了真正欣赏到这些爆♥炸♥的规模
we would need to see one up close,
我们需要近距离地
to see a star die in our own galaxy,
观察我们自己的星系
the Milky Way.
银河中一颗恒星的死亡
Although on average there's one big supernova
尽管每个星系中平均每个世纪
in each galaxy every century,
只有一颗大的超新星
there hasn't been one in the Milky Way
自从现代科学诞生之后
since the birth of modern science.
银河系只有过一颗
The last was in 1604, so we're long overdue.
最近的一颗是在1604年 我们迟到太久了
Astronomers are now searching the
天文学家现在探索太空
skies for the star that is most likely to go supernova.
寻找最可能变成超新星的恒星
And amongst the leading candidates
在主要候选恒星中
there's a familiar name.
有个熟悉的名字
This is the constellation of Orion
这是猎户星座
and this is Betelgeuse,
这是参宿四
and we know it's extremely unstable
我们知道它极不稳定
because it's dimmed by about 15%
因为它在过去的十年里
in the last ten years.
黯淡了百分之十五
Now, astronomers think that this star
现在 天文学家认为这颗星
could go supernova at any moment.
随时可能变成超新星
That could mean any time in the next million years
那意味着也许在未来百万年中的任何时候
but equally it could explode tomorrow,
也许就在明天 它就会爆♥炸♥
and Betelgeuse is only 600 light years away.
参宿四只有六百光年远
Now, when it goes, Betelgeuse will be incredibly bright.
参宿四开始爆♥炸♥的时候将异常明亮
It'll be by far the brightest star in the sky.
它将是到目前为止 空中最亮的星
It may shine as brightly as a full moon.
它也许会像满月一样耀眼无比
It will be almost a second sun in the daylight.
几乎是白天中的第二个太阳
In this single instant,
在这一瞬间
Betelgeuse will release more energy
参宿四释放出的能量
than our sun will produce in its entire lifetime.
比太阳在整个生命过程中产生的都多
As the star is torn apart,
当恒星被撕裂的时候
it will fire out into space
它会将自己生命过程中
all the elements that it created in its life and death.
创造的所有元素炸入空中 然后死去
Those elements will spread out to become a nebula,
这些元素将在宇宙中铺开形成一团星云
a rich chemical cloud drifting through space.
一团饱含着化学物质的云尘
And at the heart of the nebula will be a tiny beacon of light,
在星云的中心将有一团小小的光
the remnant of a star.
一颗恒星的残余物
Once more than a billion and a half kilometres across
一旦直径超过十五亿公里
that has been crushed out of all recognition by gravity.
就会被重力挤压变形
This is Betelgeuse, the neutron star.
这是参宿四中子星
And it's how this once mighty star
这颗曾经耀眼的恒星
will end its life.
就将这样结束自己的生命
Now, once Betelgeuse has gone,
现在 一旦参宿四消失
the constellation of Orion will look very different.
猎户星座看上去将会完全不同
I mean there will just be a hole in the sky
空中那颗闪耀的鲜红色恒星
where that brilliant bright red star once shone.
曾经发光的地方将留下一个漆黑的小洞
But it's in the deaths
但是就在旧恒星的消亡中
of old stars that new stars are born
新的恒星产生了
and it's very much like the cycle of death and rebirth
很像地球上死亡和重生的循环
here on earth but played out on a cosmic scale
只是发生在宇宙范围内
and you can see that happening today
你今天可以在猎户星座中
in the constellation of Orion
看到这样的事情发生
because in the sword handle
是因为在剑柄处
you can see this - the Orion Nebula.
你可以看见猎户星云
Now, it's nothing more than
从肉眼看来不过是
a misty patch of light in the night sky
夜空中一个模糊的光斑
to the naked eye but if you look more closely,
但是如果你靠近它仔细观察
you see that there is a lot more going on.
你会看见那里正在发生很多事
The Orion Nebula is one of the wonders of the universe.
猎户星云是宇宙的奇迹之一
Hidden in its clouds are bright points of light.
明亮的光点隐藏在其云层中
These are new stars,
这些是新的恒星
forming from the elements blown out
由超新星爆♥炸♥过程中
by supernova explosions.
产生的元素形成
New stars being born from the remains of dead ones.
新的恒星重生于消亡恒星的残余
and it's from this universal process
在这个死亡又重生的宇宙循环中
of death and rebirth that we emerged
我们出现了
because it was in a nebula just like this,
因为在这样的一个星云中
five billion years ago,
五十亿年前
that our sun was formed.
我们的太阳诞生了
Around it, a network of planets formed.
在它周围形成了一个行星网络
Among them was the Earth.
它们之中就有地球
Everything we find on the Earth today
我们今天在地球上发现的一切
also originated in that nebula.
也起源于那个星云
But that is not the end of this story
不过这也不能最终解释
of how the universe created us.
宇宙是如何创造我们的
Because when we look deep into the nebula,
因为当我们观察星云深处
we don't just see individual elements.
我们不止看到单个元素
We see greater complexity,
我们还看到了更复杂的东西
the seeds of our own existence.
我们人类的起源
Well, this is a spectrum of the light from the Orion Nebula
这是猎户星云所发射出的光谱
taken by the Herschel space telescope,
由赫歇尔太空望远镜拍摄的