ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tabetha Boyajian - Astronomer
Tabetha Boyajian is best known for her research on KIC 8462852, a puzzling celestial body that has inspired otherwise sober scientists to brainstorm outlandish hypotheses.

Why you should listen
Planet hunter Tabetha Boyajian studies KIC 8462852 (dubbed "Tabby's star" after her team's research): a star exhibiting bizarre (and thus far unique) variations in brightness. These fluctuations have led scientists to postulate causes ranging from comet dust (Boyajian's most likely scenario) to alien megastructures. The latest studies of Tabby's star have proved even more baffling: KIC 8462852 has been gradually dimming over the last century, a strikingly short period of time on an astronomical scale.

Boyajian currently serves as a postdoc with the Yale Exoplanet group, whose research is assisted by the Planet Hunters -- a citizen science group that combs data from the NASA Kepler Space Mission for evidence of exoplanets and other unusual interstellar activity.
More profile about the speaker
Tabetha Boyajian | Speaker | TED.com
TED2016

Tabetha Boyajian: The most mysterious star in the universe

Tabetha Boyajian: 宇宙中最诡异的恒星

Filmed:
7,280,951 views

有个巨大的,差不多 1000 倍于地球面积的物体,正阻挡着来自遥远恒星 KIC 8462852 发出的光。没有人确切知道那是什么东西。天文学家 Tabetha Boyajian 讨论了这个巨大的、异常的天体可能是什么。一位同行提了一个不太寻常的建议:这有没有可能是外星人建造的巨大的超级建筑呢?如此非同寻常的想法需要非同寻常的证据来证实。在本次演讲中,Boyajian 讲述了作为科学家,面对未知如何搜寻并且检验假说的故事。
- Astronomer
Tabetha Boyajian is best known for her research on KIC 8462852, a puzzling celestial body that has inspired otherwise sober scientists to brainstorm outlandish hypotheses. Full bio

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

00:12
Extraordinary非凡 claims索赔
require要求 extraordinary非凡 evidence证据,
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非同寻常的结论
需要非同寻常的证据。
作为天文学家,
这是我的职责和责任
00:17
and it is my job工作,
my responsibility责任, as an astronomer天文学家
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00:22
to remind提醒 people that alien外侨 hypotheses假设
should always be a last resort采取.
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去提醒人们外星人假说
一直都该是最后一根救命稻草。
00:29
Now, I want to tell you
a story故事 about that.
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现在,我要给你们
讲这么一个故事。
故事中有来自 NASA 项目中的数据,
00:31
It involves涉及 data数据 from a NASANASA mission任务,
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有普通人,还有一颗
银河系里最非同寻常的星星。
00:35
ordinary普通 people and one of the most
extraordinary非凡 stars明星 in our galaxy星系.
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00:41
It began开始 in 2009 with the launch发射
of NASA's美国航空航天局 Kepler开普勒 mission任务.
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故事开始于 2009 年,
NASA 启动了开普勒计划。
00:46
Kepler's开普勒 main主要 scientific科学 objective目的
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开普勒计划的
首要科学目标
是寻找太阳系以外的行星。
00:48
was to find planets行星
outside of our solar太阳能 system系统.
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它持续观测一小块天区,
00:51
It did this by staring凝视
at a single field领域 in the sky天空,
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就这块,所有这些小方块。
00:54
this one, with all the tiny boxes盒子.
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00:57
And in this one field领域,
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在这小块区域中,
00:58
it monitored监控 the brightness亮度
of over 150,000 stars明星
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它持续观测超过
15 万颗恒星的亮度,
整整四年,
01:03
continuously一直 for four years年份,
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每 30 分钟就采集一次数据。
01:05
taking服用 a data数据 point every一切 30 minutes分钟.
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01:10
It was looking for what
astronomers天文学家 call a transit过境.
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它在搜寻天文学家
叫做掩食的东西。
它发生在行星轨道和
我们的观测视线重合情况。
01:13
This is when the planet's地球上的 orbit轨道
is aligned对齐 in our line线 of sight视力,
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这样,行星就会
从恒星前面经过。
01:18
just so that the planet行星
crosses十字架 in front面前 of a star.
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这种情况下,行星
就会挡住一点点的星光。
01:22
And when this happens发生,
it blocks out a tiny bit of starlight星光,
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你可以在光度曲线上
看到小小的负峰。
01:27
which哪一个 you can see as a dip in this curve曲线.
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01:31
And so the team球队 at NASANASA
had developed发达 very sophisticated复杂的 computers电脑
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于是 NASA 团队开发出
非常复杂的电脑程序,
来搜寻开普勒
数据中的掩食事件。
01:36
to search搜索 for transits过境
in all the Kepler开普勒 data数据.
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01:40
At the same相同 time
of the first data数据 release发布,
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在首次数据发布的同时,
耶鲁大学的天文学家
在考虑一个有趣的问题:
01:44
astronomers天文学家 at Yale耶鲁
were wondering想知道 an interesting有趣 thing:
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01:48
What if computers电脑 missed错过 something?
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万一电脑错过了什么怎么办?
01:53
And so we launched推出 the citizen公民
science科学 project项目 called Planet行星 Hunters猎人
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于是,我们又发起了一项
名为“行星猎人”的公民科学项目。
01:57
to have people look at the same相同 data数据.
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这个项目依靠大众
来分析同样的数据。
02:01
The human人的 brain has an amazing惊人 ability能力
for pattern模式 recognition承认,
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人脑有着惊人的模式识别能力,
有时候甚至比电脑都厉害。
02:05
sometimes有时 even better than a computer电脑.
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然而,这个项目
遭到了很多质疑。
02:07
However然而, there was a lot
of skepticism怀疑论 around this.
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我的同行,黛布拉·费舍尔,
行星猎人项目的发起人,
02:10
My colleague同事, Debra黛布拉 Fischer菲舍尔,
founder创办人 of the Planet行星 Hunters猎人 project项目,
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说那时候人们议论道:
02:13
said that people at the time were saying,
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“你们疯了。
电脑绝不可能错过信号。”
02:15
"You're crazy. There's no way
that a computer电脑 will miss小姐 a signal信号."
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02:19
And so it was on, the classic经典
human人的 versus machine gamble.
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所以这又是人和机器
赌哪个的老段子。
如果我们发现了一颗行星,
那我们就会特别高兴。
02:23
And if we found发现 one planet行星,
we would be thrilled高兴.
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四年前,
在我加入这个团队的时候,
02:27
When I joined加盟 the team球队 four years年份 ago,
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我们已经有了发现。
02:29
we had already已经 found发现 a couple一对.
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02:32
And today今天, with the help
of over 300,000 science科学 enthusiasts发烧友,
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而今天,通过超过 30 万
科学爱好者的努力,
我们已经发现了数十颗行星,
02:37
we have found发现 dozens许多,
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而且我们发现了
这一颗银河系中
02:38
and we've我们已经 also found发现
one of the most mysterious神秘 stars明星
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最最奇异的恒星。
02:42
in our galaxy星系.
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02:45
So to understand理解 this,
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为了说清楚,
请看一下开普勒数据中
一次正常的掩食是什么样子。
02:46
let me show显示 you what a normal正常 transit过境
in Kepler开普勒 data数据 looks容貌 like.
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02:50
On this graph图形 on the left-hand左手 side
you have the amount of light,
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这幅图中,左边轴是光强度,
底下的横轴是时间。
02:54
and on the bottom底部 is time.
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这条白线是单纯来自恒星的光,
02:55
The white白色 line线
is light just from the star,
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天文学家称为光度曲线。
02:59
what astronomers天文学家 call a light curve曲线.
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现在,当一颗行星掩过恒星,
它阻挡了一点点星光,
03:01
Now, when a planet行星 transits过境 a star,
it blocks out a little bit of this light,
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而这个掩食的深度
反映了行星体自身的大小。
03:05
and the depth深度 of this transit过境
reflects反映 the size尺寸 of the object目的 itself本身.
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所以,例如木星。
03:10
And so, for example, let's take Jupiter木星.
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行星通常不太会
比木星还要大。
03:13
Planets行星 don't get
much bigger than Jupiter木星.
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木星会减弱百分之一的星光。
03:15
Jupiter木星 will make a one percent百分 drop下降
in a star's明星 brightness亮度.
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换做地球,
地球只有木星的 1/11 大,
03:19
Earth地球, on the other hand,
is 11 times smaller than Jupiter木星,
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它的信号在数据中几乎看不见。
03:23
and the signal信号
is barely仅仅 visible可见 in the data数据.
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03:26
So back to our mystery神秘.
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回到我们的谜题。
03:28
A few少数 years年份 ago, Planet行星 Hunters猎人 were
sifting筛选 through通过 data数据 looking for transits过境,
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几年前,行星猎人
正在筛选数据寻找掩食,
03:33
and they spotted a mysterious神秘 signal信号
coming未来 from the star KICKIC 8462852.
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他们发现了一个诡异的信号
来自恒星 KIC 8462852。
03:39
The observations意见 in May可能 of 2009
were the first they spotted,
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2009 年五月是他们
首次发现这个信号,
他们开始在论坛中
讨论这个发现。
03:43
and they started开始 talking about this
in the discussion讨论 forums论坛.
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03:47
They said and object目的 like Jupiter木星
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他们说一个类似木星的星体
可以造成这样的星光削弱,
03:49
would make a drop下降 like this
in the star's明星 light,
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但他们也说这家伙太大了。
03:52
but they were also saying it was giant巨人.
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你看,掩食通常只持续几个小时,
03:55
You see, transits过境 normally一般
only last for a few少数 hours小时,
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而这一个持续了将近一周。
03:58
and this one lasted历时 for almost几乎 a week.
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04:01
They were also saying
that it looks容貌 asymmetric非对称,
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他们也在说谱线看起来不对称,
这是说,不像木星那样
有一个干净、U 型的负峰,
04:05
meaning含义 that instead代替 of the clean清洁,
U-shapedU形 dip that we saw with Jupiter木星,
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大家看,这条数据左侧
的倾斜度很奇怪。
04:09
it had this strange奇怪 slope
that you can see on the left side.
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这似乎意味着,
04:13
This seemed似乎 to indicate表明
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无论闯进来
挡住星光的是什么东西,
04:14
that whatever随你 was getting得到 in the way
and blocking闭塞 the starlight星光
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它不会像行星那样是个球形。
04:18
was not circular like a planet行星.
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04:21
There are few少数 more dips骤降 that happened发生,
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后来陆续还有少量的负峰,
04:23
but for a couple一对 of years年份,
it was pretty漂亮 quiet安静.
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但这颗星在之后的一两年
一直都没什么动静。
04:26
And then in March游行 of 2011, we see this.
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然后在 2011 年三月,
我们观察到了这个。
04:31
The star's明星 light drops滴剂
by a whole整个 15 percent百分,
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这颗恒星的光度
掉了整整 15%,
这比一颗行星能造成的大太多了,
04:35
and this is huge巨大 compared相比 to a planet行星,
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行星只能造成 1% 的光度下降。
04:37
which哪一个 would only make a one percent百分 drop下降.
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04:40
We described描述 this feature特征
as both smooth光滑 and clean清洁.
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我们把这条谱线特征
描述为光滑和干净。
它也是不对称的,
04:44
It also is asymmetric非对称,
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在持续近一周的时间内
逐步减弱,
04:46
having a gradual dimming调光
that lasts持续 almost几乎 a week,
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然后在一两天内
立马反弹回正常的光度。
04:48
and then it snaps按扣 right back up to normal正常
in just a matter of days.
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04:52
And again, after this, not much happens发生
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在此之后,又是什么都没发生,
直到 2013 年二月。
04:57
until直到 February二月 of 2013.
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事情的发展完全出乎意料。
05:00
Things start开始 to get really crazy.
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光度曲线上出现了
一大群复杂的负峰,
05:03
There is a huge巨大 complex复杂 of dips骤降
in the light curve曲线 that appear出现,
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而且它们持续了
差不多一百天,
05:08
and they last for like a hundred days,
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一直延续到
开普勒计划结束。
05:10
all the way up
into the Kepler开普勒 mission's访问团 end结束.
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05:13
These dips骤降 have variable变量 shapes形状.
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这些负峰有着各种形状。
有一些很尖锐,
有一些很宽,
05:15
Some are very sharp尖锐, and some are broad广阔,
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以及有不同的持续时间。
05:17
and they also have variable变量 durations持续时间.
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有一些只持续一两天,
有的则超过一周。
05:19
Some last just for a day or two,
and some for more than a week.
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05:24
And there's also up and down trends趋势
within some of these dips骤降,
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而且在一些光度负峰中,
还出现上上下下的起伏,
感觉好像是几个独立事件
重叠在一起。
05:27
almost几乎 like several一些 independent独立 events事件
were superimposed叠加 on top最佳 of each other.
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05:32
And at this time, this star drops滴剂
in its brightness亮度 over 20 percent百分.
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而且这次,这颗恒星的亮度
下降了超过 20%。
这说明不管是什么东西
挡住了光,
05:39
This means手段 that whatever随你
is blocking闭塞 its light
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这家伙有着超过地球
1000 倍的面积。
05:41
has an area of over 1,000 times
the area of our planet行星 Earth地球.
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05:46
This is truly remarkable卓越.
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这真心是非同寻常。
05:49
And so the citizen公民 scientists科学家们,
when they saw this,
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当公民科学家发现这个时,
他们通知了科学家团队,
称他们发现了足够奇怪的东西
05:51
they notified通知 the science科学 team球队
that they found发现 something weird奇怪的 enough足够
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可能值得后续跟进研究。
05:55
that it might威力 be worth价值 following以下 up.
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05:58
And so when the science科学 team球队 looked看着 at it,
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于是当科学家团队看过数据之后,
我们觉得:“好吧,会不会
只是数据有点问题。”
06:00
we're like, "Yeah, there's probably大概
just something wrong错误 with the data数据."
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不过经过我们非常、
非常、非常仔细的调查,
06:04
But we looked看着 really, really, really hard,
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06:06
and the data数据 were good.
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数据没有问题。
06:10
And so what was happening事件
had to be astrophysical天体物理,
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因此,出现这些负峰一定有
天体物理学的原因,
说明太空中有什么东西
经过了我们和恒星之间,
06:13
meaning含义 that something in space空间
was getting得到 in the way
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挡住了它的光。
06:17
and blocking闭塞 starlight星光.
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06:20
And so at this point,
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这个时候,
我们竭力研究
关于这颗恒星的一切,
06:21
we set out to learn学习
everything we could about the star
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希望能找到任何
可以解释这些现象的线索。
06:24
to see if we could find any clues线索
to what was going on.
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06:27
And the citizen公民 scientists科学家们
who helped帮助 us in this discovery发现,
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帮助我们发现这颗星的
公民科学家,
也加入了讨论,
06:30
they joined加盟 along沿 for the ride
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见证科学第一线的行动。
06:32
watching观看 science科学 in action行动 firsthand第一手.
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06:37
First, somebody said, you know,
what if this star was very young年轻
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首先,有人提出,
是不是这颗星非常年轻,
它仍旧保有它诞生之时
周围的星际云物质。
06:42
and it still had the cloud of material材料
it was born天生 from surrounding周围 it.
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06:47
And then somebody else其他 said,
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另外有人说,
好吧,是不是这颗星
已经形成了行星系统,
06:48
well, what if the star
had already已经 formed形成 planets行星,
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而两颗行星相撞了,
06:51
and two of these planets行星 had collided相撞,
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就像地球——月球的形成过程。
06:53
similar类似 to the Earth-Moon地球 - 月球 forming成型 event事件.
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06:56
Well, both of these theories理论
could explain说明 part部分 of the data数据,
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好吧,这两种假说
都可以解释部分数据,
但是困难在于,这颗恒星
没有显示任何年轻的特征,
07:00
but the difficulties困难 were that the star
showed显示 no signs迹象 of being存在 young年轻,
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而且也没有来自任何物质
07:03
and there was no glow辉光
from any of the material材料
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被星光加热发出的光晕。
07:06
that was heated加热 up by the star's明星 light,
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如果恒星年轻,
07:08
and you would expect期望 this
if the star was young年轻
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或者碰撞产生大量尘埃,
通常会出现这种现象。
07:11
or if there was a collision碰撞
and a lot of dust灰尘 was produced生成.
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07:15
And so somebody else其他 said,
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又有人说,
好吧,会不会是一大群彗星呢
07:17
well, how about a huge巨大 swarm一群 of comets彗星
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在一个非常椭圆的轨道上
一连串地穿过这颗恒星?
07:22
that are passing通过 by this star
in a very elliptical椭圆的 orbit轨道?
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好吧,这个假说倒是
和我们的观测相吻合。
07:26
Well, it ends结束 up that this is actually其实
consistent一贯 with our observations意见.
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07:32
But I agree同意, it does feel
a little contrived做作.
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但是我同意,
这感觉有点牵强。
你看,需要数百颗彗星,
07:35
You see, it would take hundreds数以百计 of comets彗星
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才能重现我们的观测。
07:38
to reproduce复制 what we're observing观察.
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07:41
And these are only the comets彗星
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而这些只是
恰好从我们和恒星
中间穿过的彗星。
07:42
that happen发生 to pass通过
between之间 us and the star.
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所以实际情况下,
将会有成千上万颗彗星。
07:45
And so in reality现实, we're talking
thousands数千 to tens of thousands数千 of comets彗星.
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但是在我们所有的烂解释中,
07:51
But of all the bad ideas思路 we had,
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这个算是最好的了。
07:55
this one was the best最好.
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于是我们发表了我们的发现。
07:57
And so we went ahead
and published发表 our findings发现.
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要我说,这是我写过的
最困难的论文之一。
08:00
Now, let me tell you, this was one
of the hardest最难 papers文件 I ever wrote.
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科学家理应发表明确的结果,
08:04
Scientists科学家们 are meant意味着 to publish发布 results结果,
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而这次我们离结果
还有十万八千里呢。
08:07
and this situation情况 was far from that.
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08:09
And so we decided决定
to give it a catchy上口 title标题,
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所以我们决定
起一个抓眼球的标题,
我们的题目是:
《光去了哪里》
08:13
and we called it: "Where's哪里 The Flux助焊剂?"
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08:15
I will let you work out the acronym缩写.
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麻烦大家自行意会这个梗
08:18
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声。标题的英文缩写为
WTF,即“什么鬼”)
08:22
So this isn't the end结束 of the story故事.
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不过这故事还没完呢。
在我写这篇论文的同时,
08:24
Around the same相同 time
I was writing写作 this paper,
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我见了一位同行,
贾森·莱特
08:26
I met会见 with a colleague同事
of mine, Jason贾森 Wright赖特,
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他也在写一篇
有关开普勒数据的论文。
08:28
and he was also writing写作 a paper
on Kepler开普勒 data数据.
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他说道,从开普勒
无与伦比的精度来看,
08:31
And he was saying that with Kepler's开普勒
extreme极端 precision精确,
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它其实可以探测到
恒星周围的外星人建筑,
08:35
it could actually其实 detect检测
alien外侨 megastructures巨型结构。 around stars明星,
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但是并没有发现。
08:40
but it didn't.
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08:42
And then I showed显示 him this weird奇怪的 data数据
that our citizen公民 scientists科学家们 had found发现,
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然后我给他看了这个由我们
公民科学家发现的奇怪数据,
08:47
and he said to me,
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然后他对我说,
“见鬼,塔碧。
08:48
"Aw crap掷骰子, Tabby虎斑猫.
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这下我论文得重写了。”
08:50
Now I have to rewrite改写 my paper."
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08:54
So yes, the natural自然
explanations说明 were weak,
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所以,没错,
自然解释很牵强,
08:58
and we were curious好奇 now.
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我们很好奇。
我们必须找到一个
排除外星人的方法。
09:00
So we had to find a way
to rule规则 out aliens外星人.
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于是我俩一起说服了
09:03
So together一起, we convinced相信
a colleague同事 of ours我们的
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我们在 SETI(寻找地外
文明计划)工作的一位同行,
09:06
who works作品 on SETISETI, the Search搜索
for Extraterrestrial外星人 Intelligence情报,
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说这是一个非常
出色的追逐目标。
09:09
that this would be
an extraordinary非凡 target目标 to pursue追求.
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09:14
We wrote a proposal提案 to observe the star
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我们起草了一份
观测这颗恒星的项目书
请求使用绿岸天文台的
世界上最大的射电天文望远镜。
09:16
with the world's世界 largest最大 radio无线电 telescope望远镜
at the Green绿色 Bank银行 Observatory天文台.
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两三个月后,
09:21
A couple一对 months个月 later后来,
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这份项目书的消息
被媒体刺探到了
09:22
news新闻 of this proposal提案
got leaked泄露 to the press
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09:27
and now there are thousands数千 of articles用品,
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好吧,现在有几千篇报道
可能超过一万篇,
单单关于这颗恒星。
09:31
over 10,000 articles用品, on this star alone单独.
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如果你用谷歌图片搜索,
09:34
And if you search搜索 Google谷歌 Images图片,
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09:36
this is what you'll你会 find.
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你会找到这些。
09:39
Now, you may可能 be wondering想知道,
OK, Tabby虎斑猫, well,
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现在,观众可能会问,
好吧塔碧,
究竟怎么用外星人
去解释这光度曲线?
09:42
how do aliens外星人 actually其实 explain说明
this light curve曲线?
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好吧,想象一个
远比我们发达的文明,
09:46
OK, well, imagine想像 a civilization文明
that's much more advanced高级 than our own拥有.
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在这个假设条件下,
09:51
In this hypothetical假想 circumstance环境,
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09:54
this civilization文明 would have exhausted
the energy能源 supply供应 of their home planet行星,
173
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这个文明肯定耗尽了
他们母星的能源。
所以他们从哪里
获取更多的能量?
09:59
so where could they get more energy能源?
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你看,他们有一颗宿主恒星,
就像我们有太阳一样,
10:01
Well, they have a host主办 star
just like we have a sun太阳,
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10:05
and so if they were able能够
to capture捕获 more energy能源 from this star,
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那如果他们能够
从恒星中抓取更多能量,
那就可以解决
他们的能源需求。
10:09
then that would solve解决 their energy能源 needs需求.
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1960
10:11
So they would go
and build建立 huge巨大 structures结构.
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所以他们可能会去
建造这些巨型建筑。
这些巨大的超级建筑,
10:15
These giant巨人 megastructures巨型结构。,
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比如巨大的太阳能电池板,
叫做“戴森球”。
10:18
like ginormous极大的相 solar太阳能 panels面板,
are called Dyson戴森 spheres.
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10:22
This image图片 above以上
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上面这些图片
是许多艺术家想象中的戴森球。
10:23
are lots of artists'艺术家 impressions印象
of Dyson戴森 spheres.
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很难去想象这些东西
究竟有多庞大,
10:26
It's really hard to provide提供 perspective透视
on the vastness广大 of these things,
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但你可以这么想。
10:32
but you can think of it this way.
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地球——月球间的距离
是四十万公里。
10:33
The Earth-Moon地球 - 月球 distance距离
is a quarter25美分硬币 of a million百万 miles英里.
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10:38
The simplest简单 element元件
on one of these structures结构
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这些巨型结构中的
最简单的单元,
是 100 倍地月距离。
10:41
is 100 times that size尺寸.
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10:45
They're enormous巨大.
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它们是庞然大物。
10:48
And now imagine想像 one of these structures结构
in motion运动 around a star.
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再想象,这样一个建筑
围绕着一颗恒星运动。
你可以看到这为什么
可以造成数据中异常
10:52
You can see how it would produce生产
anomalies异常 in the data数据
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如此不对称,不自然的负峰。
10:55
such这样 as uneven不均匀的, unnatural不自然 looking dips骤降.
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但是即使是
外星人的超级建筑,
10:58
But it remains遗迹 that even
alien外侨 megastructures巨型结构。
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也不能违反物理定律。
11:02
cannot不能 defy违抗 the laws法律 of physics物理.
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任何使用大量能量的东西
11:05
You see, anything that uses使用
a lot of energy能源
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11:09
is going to produce生产 heat,
195
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将会产生热量,
11:12
and we don't observe this.
196
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1976
但是我们没有观测到。
但这有可能只是非常简单的,
11:14
But it could be something as simple简单
197
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11:16
as they're just reradiating再辐射 it away
in another另一个 direction方向,
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他们把热量释放到了另一个方向,
11:20
just not at Earth地球.
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没有对着地球。
11:23
Another另一个 idea理念 that's one
of my personal个人 favorites最爱
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我个人最喜欢的
另一种可能性是
11:26
is that we had just witnessed目击
an interplanetary星际 space空间 battle战斗
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我们恰好目睹了
一场星球大战,
一颗行星被灾难性地
彻底摧毁了。
11:30
and the catastrophic灾难性的
destruction毁坏 of a planet行星.
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11:34
Now, I admit承认 that this
would produce生产 a lot of dust灰尘
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我承认,
这会产生很多尘埃,
然而我们没有观测到。
11:37
that we don't observe.
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但是如果我们已经
在用外星人来解释,
11:39
But if we're already已经 invoking调用 aliens外星人
in this explanation说明,
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那谁说他们不会秋风扫落叶
一般清理干净尘埃,
11:44
then who is to say they didn't
efficiently有效率的 clean清洁 up all this mess食堂
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回收利用?
11:47
for recycling回收 purposes目的?
207
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(笑声)
11:49
(Laughter笑声)
208
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1016
你看,这很快
就激发想象力啦。
11:50
You can see how this quickly很快
captures捕获 your imagination想像力.
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11:55
Well, there you have it.
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好啦,故事就是这样。
11:57
We're in a situation情况 that could unfold展开
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我们的处境是,
既可以解释成
我们没搞清楚的自然现象,
12:00
to be a natural自然 phenomenon现象
we don't understand理解
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又可以解释成
我们没搞清楚的外星人科技。
12:03
or an alien外侨 technology技术
we don't understand理解.
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12:07
Personally亲自, as a scientist科学家,
my money is on the natural自然 explanation说明.
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作为科学家,我个人
还是会赌这是个自然现象。
12:14
But don't get me wrong错误, I do think
it would be awesome真棒 to find aliens外星人.
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但是别误解了,我绝对认同
能找到外星人非常棒。
不管怎样,有新东西,
非常有趣的东西等待发现。
12:18
Either way, there is something new
and really interesting有趣 to discover发现.
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12:24
So what happens发生 next下一个?
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那么,接下来呢?
12:25
We need to continue继续 to observe this star
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我们需要继续观测这颗恒星
去更详细地了解发生了什么。
12:28
to learn学习 more about what's happening事件.
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12:31
But professional专业的 astronomers天文学家, like me,
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然而,像我这样的职业天文学家,
12:33
we have limited有限 resources资源
for this kind of thing,
221
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我们在这方面的资源有限。
而开普勒望远镜已经在
执行另一项计划了。
12:36
and Kepler开普勒 is on to a different不同 mission任务.
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12:39
And I'm happy快乐 to say that once一旦 again,
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所以我很高兴地说,又一次,
公民科学家加入进来救场。
12:43
citizen公民 scientists科学家们 have come in
and saved保存 the day.
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12:47
You see, this time,
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你看,这次,
12:50
amateur业余 astronomers天文学家
with their backyard后院 telescopes望远镜
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业余天文爱好者
拿着他们的业余望远镜
立刻加入进来,
开始在自己的观测点
12:54
stepped加强 up immediately立即
and started开始 observing观察 this star nightly每夜
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夜观此星。
12:58
at their own拥有 facilities设备,
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我非常期待他们的发现。
12:59
and I am so excited兴奋 to see what they find.
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13:03
What's amazing惊人 to me is that this star
would have never been found发现 by computers电脑
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对我来说,激动人心的是
这颗恒星可能根本不会被电脑发现,
13:07
because we just weren't looking
for something like this.
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因为我们单纯没有把
这样的恒星当成目标。
13:11
And what's more exciting扣人心弦
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更激动人心的是,
13:15
is that there's more data数据 to come.
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将来还有更多的数据。
13:18
There are new missions任务 that are coming未来 up
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786200
1976
有新的观测项目要上马,
准备观测百万颗恒星,
13:20
that are observing观察 millions百万 more stars明星
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13:23
all over the sky天空.
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布满全天。
13:26
And just think: What will it mean
when we find another另一个 star like this?
237
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思考一下:如果我们又找到
一颗这样的恒星,意味着什么?
13:32
And what will it mean
if we don't find another另一个 star like this?
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而如果我们一颗都没找到,
那又意味着什么?
谢谢。
13:37
Thank you.
239
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(掌声)
13:38
(Applause掌声)
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Translated by Luyao Zou
Reviewed by Michael Ge 葛叔

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tabetha Boyajian - Astronomer
Tabetha Boyajian is best known for her research on KIC 8462852, a puzzling celestial body that has inspired otherwise sober scientists to brainstorm outlandish hypotheses.

Why you should listen
Planet hunter Tabetha Boyajian studies KIC 8462852 (dubbed "Tabby's star" after her team's research): a star exhibiting bizarre (and thus far unique) variations in brightness. These fluctuations have led scientists to postulate causes ranging from comet dust (Boyajian's most likely scenario) to alien megastructures. The latest studies of Tabby's star have proved even more baffling: KIC 8462852 has been gradually dimming over the last century, a strikingly short period of time on an astronomical scale.

Boyajian currently serves as a postdoc with the Yale Exoplanet group, whose research is assisted by the Planet Hunters -- a citizen science group that combs data from the NASA Kepler Space Mission for evidence of exoplanets and other unusual interstellar activity.
More profile about the speaker
Tabetha Boyajian | Speaker | TED.com