(单词翻译:单击)
SciShow Space is supported by Brilliant.org.
太空科学秀是由Brilliant.org赞助播出的。
On August 17, scientists detected something that sent the entire astronomy world into a frenzy of data collection and analysis:
8月17日，科学家们发现了某些东西，让整个天文学界陷入疯狂的数据收集和分析当中，
a collision between two neutron stars。
即两颗中子星发生碰撞。
Stars so dense even the space between atoms has collapsed.
中子星如此致密，以至于原子间的空间也坍塌了。
We knew that neutron stars could collide in theory,
理论上，我们知道中子星能够碰撞，
but this was the first time we've ever seen it happen.
但这是我们第一次见到它发生。
It was all made possible by the gravitational wave detector
能够看到它的碰撞都是引力波探测器的功劳，
that made headlines last year by proving the existence of gravitational waves,
引力波探测器能够证明引力波的存在，这一消息去年上了头条，
ripples in spacetime caused by some of the most extreme events in the universe.
而引力波是宇宙中一些最极端的事件引起的时空涟漪，
Like when two neutron stars crash into each other.
比如两颗中子星的相互碰撞就是其一。
But astronomers were able to study this neutron star collision using more than just gravitational waves.
但是，天文学家研究这个中子星碰撞不仅仅依靠使用引力波。
They also observed it with different kinds of telescopes all over the world.
他们也用世界各地的不同望远镜来观测。
And this week, they released the first series of results in dozens of papers published by thousands of authors in multiple journals.
本周，数千名作者首次在多家报纸发表了一系列研究成果。
So now we finally get to see what they've learned.
现在我们终于可以看到他们了解到了什么。
Turns out, it's a lot.
结果证明，成果丰硕。
Neutron stars are what's left when a massive star, about 10-30 times the mass of our sun, explodes in a supernova.
超过太阳质量10-30倍的超大恒星在超新星爆炸时留下了中子星。
In smaller stars, the core that's left behind forms a white dwarf,
较小恒星留下的核形成了白矮星，
but with stars this big, the core itself collapses.
但是这颗恒星这么大，核本身就会坍塌。
Electrons and protons combine to form neutrons,
电子和质子结合形成中子，
and everything gets crushed together until it's a giant blob as dense as an atomic nucleus.
所有东西都被压缩在一起，直到变成了原子核一样的致密巨团。
A piece of neutron star, the size of a sugar cube would weigh as much as Mount Everest.
一颗方糖大小的中子星碎片相当于珠穆朗玛峰的重量。
That's how dense they are.
这就是它的密度。
Except they also tend to be about 20 kilometers in diameter.
除此之外，它们的直径约为20千米。
Now imagine two of these things colliding.
现在，想象一下这样的两个物质碰撞。
I know cool guys don't look at explosions, but even The Lonely Island guys would want to see this one.
寂寞孤岛乐团虽然唱过“Cool Guys Don't Look at Explosions”这首歌，但他们肯定对这场爆炸也感兴趣。
The collision was first spotted by LIGO, the gravitational wave detector,
这一碰撞最初是由激光干涉引力波天文台发现，
which detected 100 seconds worth of waves.
它探测到了100秒的引力波。
But even though it was only the fifth time we've ever detected gravitational waves, that was almost the boring part.
即使这仅是我们第5次探测到引力波，也很无聊。
Scientists would have expected gravitational waves from an event like this.
科学家们曾期待过从中子星碰撞中得到引力波。
What was exciting was that this was the first time we detected them from something other than black holes merging,
令人兴奋的是，这是我们第一次从黑洞以外的其他东西中探测到它们，
something we could see with telescopes, too.
而且我们也可以从望远镜中看到它。
By searching with those telescopes,
天文学家通过望远镜的搜索，
astronomers were able to pinpoint exactly which galaxy the waves were coming from:
已经能够精确地确定引力波从哪个星系而来，
NGC 4993, about 130 million light years away.
是1.3亿光年远的NGC 4993。
That meant we could get our first close-up look at the explosion of radioactive material produced by a neutron star collision,
这意味着我们可以第一次近距离观察中子星碰撞产生的放射性物质。
what's known as a kilonova. And there was a lot to see!
这一现象被认为是千新星。还有很多东西可以看
The kilonova put out everything from X-rays to visible light to radio waves.
千新星释放出很多东西，从X射线到可见光再到无线电波。
And, two seconds after that initial detection of gravitational waves, we also detected a gamma-ray burst.
在最初探测到引力波的两秒后，我们还探测到了伽马射线暴。
Astronomers had predicted that neutron star collisions would produce tons of radiation
天文学家曾预言中子星碰撞会产生大量的辐射
because as neutrons were ejected in the collision, they'd form large atomic nuclei.
因为中子在碰撞喷射时，会形成大原子核。
Some of those nuclei would be radioactive and decay right away, producing radiation.
有些原子核有放射性，会立即衰变，产生辐射。
And that's exactly what we saw.
这和我们的所见完全一样。
We also discovered that neutron star mergers are one of,
我们还发现中子星爆炸是宇宙形成重元素的一个环节，
or most likely the major process that forms the heavier elements in the universe.
或者极有可能就是主要环节。
Until now, this was entirely theoretical.
到目前为止，这完全是理论上的。
We knew that elements lighter than iron could form in supernovas, but nothing heavier than that.
我们知道，在超新星中形成过程中能形成比铁更轻的元素，但不能产生更重的元素。
The math said heavier elements like gold and platinum could form in a neutron star merger like this,
数学上说，像金、铂这样的重元素可以在这样的中子星爆炸中形成，
but we could have easily been wrong.
但可能这么想是错的。
But the observations confirmed we got it right.
然而，观察结果证实了我们的结论。
This one collision could've produced up to 100 times Earth's mass in gold.
这次碰撞可能产生超过地球质量100倍的黄金。
So that's another giant mystery solved.
所以这是解决的另一个大谜团。
Then there was that short gamma-ray burst: a bright flash of the highest-energy form of light.
然后是短伽马射线暴，即能量巨大的明亮闪光。
We've detected many of these before, but couldn't prove what was causing them.
我们之前探测到许多这种光，但不能证明是什么产生的。
Neutron star collisions were one of the possibilities, and this all but nails it.
中子星碰撞是一种可能，但这次碰撞揭开了谜题。
We saw a short gamma-ray burst from what we know was a neutron star collision.
我们看到了中子星碰撞中的短伽马射线暴。
And these are just a few of the most important discoveries.
这些只是一些最重要的发现。
This was our first chance to prove a lot of stuff that physicists had predicted for decades:
这是我们第一次有机会证明物理学家们几十年来预测的东西：
gravitational waves, kilonovas, the creation of heavy elements, gamma ray bursts.
引力波、千新星、重元素的产生和伽玛射线暴。
It all checks out.
这些都被证明了。
With one event, we went from no direct evidence for many of these predictions to really solid evidence.
这一事件让我们从没有证明这些预测的直接证据到有了确凿的证据。
There's an enormous amount of new research coming out of this,
此次碰撞催生了许多新研究，
and a ton of things astronomers are still hoping to figure out,
天文学家有很多事需要解决，
like what happened to the neutron stars after they collided.
比如中子星碰撞后会怎么样。
And this is only the beginning.
所以，这只是个开始。
As we get our new gravitational wave detectors up and running,
由于我们的新引力波探测器开始运行，
astronomers expect to spot plenty more of these collisions,
天文学家希望在接下来几年能发现更多这种碰撞，
along with other types of gravitational waves, just in the next few years.
和其他类型的引力波。
We're going to be learning a lot more about the universe pretty soon.
我们不久将学习到更多的宇宙知识。
And here at SciShow Space, we'll keep you updated every step of the way.
这里是太空科学秀，我们会为你持续更新。
If you're as excited as we are about this new era of gravitational wave astronomy,
如果你和我们一样兴奋于引力波天文学的新时代，
you'll probably have fun going through Brilliant.org's astronomy lessons.
你可能会对Brilliant.org的天文课感兴趣。
There's one called the Life Cycles of Stars,
这门课叫星球的生命周期，
and there's this interactive quiz about stellar remnants.
还有一个关于恒星残留物的互动测试。
And today seems like a good day to give it a try, so let's check it out!
今天似乎是一个做尝试的好日子，让我们来看看吧！
Something that I hadn't really expected before I really dug into
在我真正深入研究之前，我有些没料到，
Brilliant is the really good writing and story elements of these problems that they're setting up.
在描述和故事情节设计方面，他们创建的Brilliant做得很好。
In the Stellar Remnants lesson, the explanation reads kind of like a really dramatic 'Goodnight Moon',
在恒星残留物课程中，说明有点儿像戏剧化的《晚安月亮》（一款儿童游戏），
but it's more 'Goodnight Sun' which is super sad.
但更像“晚安太阳”，这非常不好。
So it gives you a lot of information, but in this really poetic, beautiful way,
所以它为你提供很多信息，但是以诗歌的美好方式，
and then it jumps in and gives you these problems to solve,
然后跳转到了给你解决方法的界面，
and it gives you a little bit of information that information you'll need to solve the problem.
它会给你一些解决这个问题需要的信息。
So I'm pretty sure that a white dwarf is 100,000 times more dense than steel and I got it right!
我很确定一颗白矮星的密度是钢的10万倍，我答对了。
Thanks SciShow Space!
感谢太空科学秀！
So the first couple of problems that you work through in a lesson give you a lot of information,
你在课堂上首次遇到的几个问题给了你很多信息，
and then as you keep going, you'll see that they give you a little bit less information
然后随着你继续进行，它们给你的信息减少，
because you're building up your skills, which is pretty fun.
因为你正建立自己的技巧，这很有趣。
So I won't give away all the answers, but if you want to check out Life Cycles of Stars,
所以我不会泄露所有的答案，但如果你想考核星球的生命周期的话，
you should click on the link in the description!
就点击说明中的链接吧！
The first 200 people to go to brilliant.org/scishowspace will get 20% off their annual subscription.
brilliant.org/scishowspace前200名的年订阅费享8折优惠。
And it's really fun, and you'll be helping out SciShow Space!
这真的很好玩，你将会帮助太空科学秀节目！
