能把我們帶回宇宙最早的恒星

Astronomers have found evidence of one of the oldest stars in the universe, a star that lived 13.5 billion years ago, nestled inside a star that’s nearly as old.

天文學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)了宇宙中最古老的恒星之一的證據(jù)，這顆恒星生活在135億年前，位于一顆幾乎和它一樣古老的恒星中。

Located 35,000 light-years from Earth, the younger star, known as SMSS J160540.18−144323.1, formed after the older star exploded into a supernova.

這顆較年輕的恒星距離地球35000光年，被稱為SMSSJ160540.18−144323.1，是在較老的恒星爆炸成超新星后形成的。

“We’ve found a time machine that takes us back to the Universe’s earliest stars,” said the study’s lead author, astronomer Thomas Nordlander in a statement.

該研究的主要作者、天文學(xué)家托馬斯·諾德蘭德在一份聲明中說(shuō)：“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)時(shí)間機(jī)器，它能把我們帶回宇宙最早的恒星。”

“The pattern of elements we found in the star in our galaxy reveals traces of its ancestor,” Nordlander added. “That long-dead star exploded as a supernova – a fairly feeble one at that too.”

諾德蘭德補(bǔ)充說(shuō):“我們?cè)阢y河系的這顆恒星中發(fā)現(xiàn)的元素模式，揭示了它祖先的痕跡。”“那顆死去已久的恒星爆炸成了超新星——那也是一顆相當(dāng)微弱的超新星。”

After the formation of the universe roughly 13.7 billion years ago, the first stars began to emerge 200 million years later, according to data from NASA.

根據(jù)美國(guó)宇航局的數(shù)據(jù)，大約在137億年前宇宙形成之后，第一代恒星在2億年后開(kāi)始出現(xiàn)。

“Gravity then pulled in more matter from areas of lower density and the clumps grew,” the space agency wrote on its website. “After about 200 million years of this clumping, there was enough matter in one place that the temperature got high enough for nuclear fusion to begin – providing the engine for stars to glow.”

nasa在其網(wǎng)站上寫道:“重力將更多的物質(zhì)從密度較低的區(qū)域吸引進(jìn)來(lái)，團(tuán)塊得以增長(zhǎng)。”“經(jīng)過(guò)大約2億年的聚集，在一個(gè)有足夠物質(zhì)的地方，溫度高到開(kāi)始核聚變——為恒星發(fā)光提供引擎。”

Known as Population III stars, the first-generation stars were massive, perhaps as much as 100 times as large as the Sun. The dead star in question was 10 times as large as the Sun, caused a small supernova and likely did not live very long.

第一代恒星被稱為星族III恒星，體積巨大，可能是太陽(yáng)的100倍。這顆死亡的恒星是太陽(yáng)的10倍大，形成了一個(gè)小的超新星，可能壽命不長(zhǎng)。

“We think the supernova energy of the ancestral star was so low that most of the heavier elements fell back into a very dense remnant created by the explosion,” Nordlander said. “Only a tiny fraction of the elements heavier than carbon escaped into space and helped to form the very old star that we found.”

諾德蘭德說(shuō):“我們認(rèn)為，這顆古老恒星的超新星能量非常低，大多數(shù)較重的元素都落回了爆炸產(chǎn)生的高密度殘骸中。”“只有一小部分比碳重的元素逃到了太空中，幫助我們形成了我們發(fā)現(xiàn)的古老恒星。”

The carbon elements that escaped from the older star were found inside the slightly younger star, known as SMSS J160540.18−144323.1, which is located in the Milky Way.

從較老恒星逃逸出來(lái)的碳元素是在稍年輕的恒星SMSS J160540.18−144323.1中發(fā)現(xiàn)的，這顆恒星位于銀河系中。

It’s unlikely that any of the universe’s earliest stars survived, but the evidence of an older star found inside SMSS J160540.18−144323.1 can offer a glimpse into the early days of the universe.

宇宙中最早的恒星不太可能存活下來(lái)，但是在SMSS J160540.18 - 144323.1中發(fā)現(xiàn)的一顆更古老恒星的證據(jù)，可以讓我們一瞥宇宙的早期。

“The good news is that we can study the first stars through their children — the stars that came after them, like the one we’ve discovered,” study co-author Martin Asplund said in the statement.

研究報(bào)告的撰寫者之一馬丁·阿斯普朗德在聲明中說(shuō):“好消息是，我們可以通過(guò)他們的孩子來(lái)研究第一代恒星——那些在他們之后出現(xiàn)的恒星，就像我們已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)的那顆。

The research was published in the scientific journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters.

這項(xiàng)研究發(fā)表在《皇家天文學(xué)會(huì)月報(bào):快報(bào)》上。