ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil - Astrophysicist
Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil studies the structure and dynamics of galaxies to help us understand how they form and evolve.

Why you should listen

Dr. Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil is searching for the most peculiar objects in the Universe. Her research has led to a discovery of an extremely rare galaxy with a unique circular structure, which is now commonly referred to as Burçin's Galaxy. Her work has provided the first description of a double-ringed elliptical galaxy, challenging current theories and assumptions about how the universe works and how galaxies start and evolve.

Mutlu-Pakdil earned her PhD at the University of Minnesota, and her undergraduate degree is from Bilkent University in Turkey. She is currently a postdoctoral research associate at University of Arizona and a 2018 TED Fellow. She spends most of her time searching for hierarchical structure at the scale of dwarf galaxies as a novel test of the Cold Dark Matter paradigm. She uses data gathered in a large range of wavelengths from premier telescopes worldwide and wants to learn more about how the Universe came to be the way it is today.

Mutlu-Pakdil's findings have been featured by CNN, Science Daily, Astronomy Magazine, Independent and MPR News, among many others. Damon Brown wrote in his regular Inc. Magazine online column: “Many organizations are dedicated to filling the STEM pipeline with more girls and women. Others are supporting the cause by being an example. TED Fellow Burçin is representing by being one of the most notable astrophysicists today.”

More profile about the speaker
Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil | Speaker | TED.com
TED2018

Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil: A rare galaxy that's challenging our understanding of the universe

布奇 · 穆特鲁-帕克迪: 一个罕见的星系挑战了我们对宇宙的认知

Filmed:
2,459,767 views

发现一个新的星系并以你的名字命名它是一种什么感觉?天体物理学家和TED研究员布奇 · 穆特鲁-帕克迪,在这个简短的演讲中向我们介绍了她的团队令人惊喜的发现:一种神秘的全新的星系。
- Astrophysicist
Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil studies the structure and dynamics of galaxies to help us understand how they form and evolve. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

宇宙中有超过一万亿个星系。
00:13
There are more than a trillion
galaxies星系 in the universe宇宙.
0
1349
3800
而我的团队发现了极其罕见的一个,
00:17
And my team球队 discovered发现
an extremely非常 rare罕见 one,
1
5976
3262
这个星系与我们见过的其他星系都不同。
00:21
a galaxy星系 that doesn't look
quite相当 like anything observed观察到的 before.
2
9831
4544
这个星系是如此的特别,
00:27
This galaxy星系 is so peculiar奇特,
3
15077
2635
以至于动摇了我们对于
00:29
that it challenges挑战 our theories理论
and our assumptions假设
4
17736
3674
00:33
about how the universe宇宙 works作品.
5
21434
2198
宇宙运行规律的理论和设想。
大多数星系都是螺旋状的,
00:37
The majority多数 of the galaxies星系 are spiral螺旋,
6
25561
2912
00:40
similar类似 to our own拥有 Milky乳白色 Way.
7
28497
1933
就像我们的银河系一样。
我们可以很好地解释这些
常见星系的起源和演化过程。
00:42
We have strong强大 theories理论 about how
these common共同 galaxies星系 form形成 and evolve发展.
8
30990
5142
但是我们并不理解其他
罕见星系的形成和演变过程。
00:48
But we don't understand理解
how rare罕见 galaxies星系 form形成 and evolve发展.
9
36762
5946
霍格星系就是这样的一个
令人费解而罕见的例子。
00:55
An especially特别 puzzling令人费解 rare罕见 case案件
is Hoag'sHoag 的 Object目的.
10
43965
3467
01:00
It has a very symmetric对称 central中央 body身体
surrounded包围 by a circular outer ring,
11
48434
6572
它由一个非常对称的中心天体
和环绕它的圆形外环组成,
01:07
with nothing visible可见 connecting them.
12
55030
2896
而这两部分之间并没有
可见的物质连接它们。
霍格星系属于最罕见的星系类型之一。
01:10
Hoag-typeHoag 型 galaxies星系 are among其中 the rarest稀有
types类型 of galaxies星系 currently目前 known已知.
13
58974
5084
他们只占星系总数的不到千分之一。
01:16
There are fewer than one
in 1,000 galaxies星系.
14
64538
3880
外环中的恒星如此整齐的
漂浮在那里的原因
01:22
It's a mystery神秘 how the stars明星
in the outer ring are just floating漂浮的 there
15
70072
5929
01:28
in such这样 an orderly整齐的 manner方式.
16
76025
2127
依旧是一个谜。
非常有意思,对吧?
01:30
That's interesting有趣, right?
17
78898
1733
别急。
01:33
Hold保持 on.
18
81049
1206
还有更加神秘的事情。
01:34
Things are about to get more mysterious神秘.
19
82279
2667
我们团队所发现的星系比霍格星系
01:37
The galaxy星系 that my team球队
discovered发现 is even rarer罕见的
20
85501
3541
01:41
and much more complex复杂 than that.
21
89066
2104
更加罕见,也更复杂。
有时,我们不停地寻找一些天体,
01:44
You know, sometimes有时, you search搜索
and search搜索 for these objects对象,
22
92339
3881
01:48
and you find nothing.
23
96244
1539
却什么也找不到。
但也有时候,它就会在你甚至
没有刻意找它的时候,
01:50
But sometimes有时, it just appears出现
in the background背景,
24
98458
3769
出现在背景里。
01:55
when you are not even looking for it.
25
103315
2270
这个星系与霍格星系非常相似,
01:58
This system系统 looks容貌 very similar类似
to Hoag'sHoag 的 Object目的,
26
106395
3301
也有中心天体和圆形的外环。
02:01
with its central中央 body身体
and circular outer ring.
27
109720
3444
02:05
We got very excited兴奋 and thought
we discovered发现 another另一个 Hoag'sHoag 的 Object目的.
28
113188
4555
我们当时非常激动,
以为又发现了一个霍格星系。
但是我的研究表明,
这其实是一种全新的星系,
02:10
But my research研究 showed显示
this is an entirely完全 new galaxy星系 type类型,
29
118427
6438
大家现在叫它“”布奇星系”。
(布奇是演讲者的名字)
02:17
now commonly常用 referred简称 to
as "BurCuSçin's中的 Galaxy星系."
30
125417
3442
(笑)
02:21
(Laughs)
31
129957
1151
(欢呼)(掌声)
02:23
(Cheers干杯) (Applause掌声)
32
131132
3525
我们要过很久才能探访这个星系。
02:27
We will not be visiting访问
this galaxy星系 anytime任何时候 soon不久.
33
135072
4141
它与地球的距离大概有
三亿五千九百万光年。
02:31
It is approximately 359 million百万
light years年份 away from Earth地球.
34
139237
6440
02:38
You may可能 think this is far.
35
146331
1734
你可能觉得这很远。
其实这个星系已经离我们相对很近了。
02:40
Well, actually其实, this is one
of the nearby附近 galaxies星系.
36
148545
3466
我对这个星系在不同的
电磁波长下的样子进行了研究——
02:45
I study研究 this object目的 in different不同 light --
37
153741
2328
包括了紫外线,可见光,和近红外线。
02:48
in ultraviolet紫外线, optical光纤 and near-infrared近红外线.
38
156796
3494
我们身体上的细微痕迹,
比如一个伤痕或者皱纹,
02:53
Small details细节 on our body身体,
like a scar瘢痕 or wrinkles皱纹,
39
161448
4230
02:57
tell the story故事 of our lives生活.
40
165702
1619
可以透露我们的生活经历。
同样的,星系结构
在不同电磁波长下的样子
02:59
Similarly同样, a galaxy's星系 structure结构体
in different不同 light
41
167773
4096
也可以帮助我们回溯
它的起源和演变过程。
03:03
can help us trace跟踪 back
their origin起源 and evolution演化.
42
171893
3531
03:07
How do I look for these details细节?
43
175927
1967
怎么寻找这些痕迹呢?
我建立了那个明亮的中心天体的模型,
03:10
I model模型 the bright central中央 body身体
44
178592
2549
并把这个模型从星系图像中移除,
03:13
and remove去掉 my model模型 from the image图片
45
181165
2484
然后就可以寻找星系的不明显的特征,
03:15
to check for any hidden features特征,
46
183673
2349
因为星系中明亮的部分
可能会遮盖一些暗淡的细节,
03:18
because a bright structure结构体 in a galaxy星系
may可能 blind our views意见 of faint features特征,
47
186046
5976
这就像我们在强光刺眼时会戴墨镜一样。
03:24
just like using运用 sunglasses墨镜
when you are blinded失明 by the intense激烈 light.
48
192046
4768
研究的结果令我们非常惊喜。
03:30
The result结果 was a big surprise.
49
198297
2454
这个星系不仅有一个外环,
03:33
This galaxy星系 doesn't just
have an outer ring,
50
201431
3611
还有一个稀薄的内环。
03:37
it has an additional额外, diffused扩散的 inner ring.
51
205066
3722
我们要解释霍格星系外环的形成过程
03:41
We were having a hard time
explaining说明 the origin起源 of the outer ring
52
209616
4738
03:46
in Hoag-typeHoag 型 galaxies星系.
53
214378
1537
已经很困难了。
03:48
Now we also need to explain说明
this mysterious神秘 second第二 ring.
54
216314
3952
现在我们还要解释这个神秘的内环。
目前没有任何理论
03:53
There is currently目前 no known已知 mechanism机制
55
221611
2635
03:56
that can explain说明 the existence存在 of an inner
ring in such这样 a peculiar奇特 galaxy星系.
56
224270
4723
可以解释这个如此特别的
星系中内环的存在。
所以,布奇星系的发现凸显了我们的
04:01
So the discovery发现 of BurCuSçin's中的 Galaxy星系
clearly明确地 highlights强调 the gap间隙
57
229379
4714
04:06
in our knowledge知识 of galaxy星系 evolution演化.
58
234117
2529
星系演化理论的不足。
对这个及其罕见星系
形成过程的后续研究,
04:09
Further进一步 research研究 into how
this extremely非常 rare罕见 galaxy星系 was formed形成
59
237601
4738
可以为我们理解宇宙的
运行机制提供新的线索。
04:14
can provide提供 us with new clues线索
on how the universe宇宙 works作品.
60
242363
4603
这个发现表明我们还有很长的路要走,
04:21
This discovery发现 tells告诉 us
that we still have a lot to learn学习,
61
249257
4658
我们应该继续对太空进行更深入的研究,
04:25
and we should keep looking
deeper更深 and deeper更深 in space空间
62
253939
3910
并继续探索未知的现象。
04:29
and keep searching搜索 for the unknown未知.
63
257873
2333
谢谢。
04:32
Thank you.
64
260920
1200
(掌声)
04:34
(Applause掌声)
65
262144
3965
Translated by Ziyao Huang

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil - Astrophysicist
Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil studies the structure and dynamics of galaxies to help us understand how they form and evolve.

Why you should listen

Dr. Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil is searching for the most peculiar objects in the Universe. Her research has led to a discovery of an extremely rare galaxy with a unique circular structure, which is now commonly referred to as Burçin's Galaxy. Her work has provided the first description of a double-ringed elliptical galaxy, challenging current theories and assumptions about how the universe works and how galaxies start and evolve.

Mutlu-Pakdil earned her PhD at the University of Minnesota, and her undergraduate degree is from Bilkent University in Turkey. She is currently a postdoctoral research associate at University of Arizona and a 2018 TED Fellow. She spends most of her time searching for hierarchical structure at the scale of dwarf galaxies as a novel test of the Cold Dark Matter paradigm. She uses data gathered in a large range of wavelengths from premier telescopes worldwide and wants to learn more about how the Universe came to be the way it is today.

Mutlu-Pakdil's findings have been featured by CNN, Science Daily, Astronomy Magazine, Independent and MPR News, among many others. Damon Brown wrote in his regular Inc. Magazine online column: “Many organizations are dedicated to filling the STEM pipeline with more girls and women. Others are supporting the cause by being an example. TED Fellow Burçin is representing by being one of the most notable astrophysicists today.”

More profile about the speaker
Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil | Speaker | TED.com