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

布奇穆特魯帕克迪爾: 一個稀有的銀河挑戰我們對於宇宙的了解

Filmed:
2,459,767 views

發現一個銀河,而且用你的名字來命名,是怎樣的滋味?天體物理學家及 TED 研究會員布辛穆特魯帕克迪爾透過這場簡短的演說,來談她團隊的驚人發現:一個神秘的新型銀河。
- 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.

00:13
There are more than a trillion
galaxies星系 in the universe宇宙.
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在宇宙中有超過一兆個銀河。
00:17
And my team球隊 discovered發現
an extremely非常 rare罕見 one,
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我的團隊發現了
一個極度稀有的銀河,
00:21
a galaxy星系 that doesn't look
quite相當 like anything observed觀察到的 before.
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它看起來和以前
所觀察到的都不太一樣。
00:27
This galaxy星系 is so peculiar奇特,
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這個銀河相當獨特,
00:29
that it challenges挑戰 our theories理論
and our assumptions假設
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獨特到挑戰了我們
關於宇宙如何運作的
00:33
about how the universe宇宙 works作品.
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理論以及假設。
00:37
The majority多數 of the galaxies星系 are spiral螺旋,
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大部分的銀河是螺旋形的,
00:40
similar類似 to our own擁有 Milky乳白色 Way.
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類似我們自己的銀河。
00:42
We have strong強大 theories理論 about how
these common共同 galaxies星系 form形成 and evolve發展.
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對於這些一般的銀河如何形成
和演化,我們有很堅固的理論。
00:48
But we don't understand理解
how rare罕見 galaxies星系 form形成 and evolve發展.
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但我們不了解稀有銀河
是如何形式和演化的。
00:55
An especially特別 puzzling令人費解 rare罕見 case案件
is Hoag'sHoag 的 Object目的.
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一個特別讓人迷惑的罕見例子,
就是「霍格的天體」。
01:00
It has a very symmetric對稱 central中央 body身體
surrounded包圍 by a circular outer ring,
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它的中央主體非常對稱,
周圍圍繞著一個圓形的外圈,
01:07
with nothing visible可見 connecting them.
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看不見主體和外圈之間的連結。
01:10
Hoag-typeHoag 型 galaxies星系 are among其中 the rarest稀有
types類型 of galaxies星系 currently目前 known已知.
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「霍格的天體」是目前所知的
銀河中,最稀有的類型之一。
01:16
There are fewer than one
in 1,000 galaxies星系.
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在一千個銀河中,
只有不到一個是這樣的。
01:22
It's a mystery神秘 how the stars明星
in the outer ring are just floating漂浮的 there
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外圈的星星是如何
會這麼整齊地浮在那裡,
01:28
in such這樣 an orderly整齊的 manner方式.
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一直都是個謎。
01:30
That's interesting有趣, right?
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那很有趣,對吧?
01:33
Hold保持 on.
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等等。
01:34
Things are about to get more mysterious神秘.
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更神秘的還在後頭。
01:37
The galaxy星系 that my team球隊
discovered發現 is even rarer罕見的
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我的團隊發現的銀河
比它還要更罕見,
01:41
and much more complex複雜 than that.
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而且更複雜許多。
01:44
You know, sometimes有時, you search搜索
and search搜索 for these objects對象,
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你們知道的,有時,
你不斷尋找這些東西,
01:48
and you find nothing.
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卻什麼也沒找到。
01:50
But sometimes有時, it just appears出現
in the background背景,
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但有時,當你沒有在找它時,
01:55
when you are not even looking for it.
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它就出現在背景中。
01:58
This system系統 looks容貌 very similar類似
to Hoag'sHoag 的 Object目的,
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這個星系看起來
很像「霍格的天體」,
02:01
with its central中央 body身體
and circular outer ring.
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也有中間的主體和圓形的外圈。
02:05
We got very excited興奮 and thought
we discovered發現 another另一個 Hoag'sHoag 的 Object目的.
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我們相當興奮,以為我們
發現了另一個「霍格的天體」。
02:10
But my research研究 showed顯示
this is an entirely完全 new galaxy星系 type類型,
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但我的研究顯示,
這是個全新的銀河類型,
02:17
now commonly常用 referred簡稱 to
as "Bur布林迪拜çin's中的 Galaxy星系."
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現在普遍被稱為「布奇的銀河」。
(註:布奇是講者的名字)
02:21
(Laughs)
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(笑聲)
02:23
(Cheers乾杯) (Applause掌聲)
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(歡呼)(掌聲)
02:27
We will not be visiting訪問
this galaxy星系 anytime任何時候 soon不久.
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我們短期內不可能去造訪這個銀河。
02:31
It is approximately 359 million百萬
light years年份 away from Earth地球.
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它距離地球大約 359 百萬光年。
02:38
You may可能 think this is far.
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你們可能覺得這距離很遠。
02:40
Well, actually其實, this is one
of the nearby附近 galaxies星系.
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嗯,其實這算是鄰近的銀河之一。
02:45
I study研究 this object目的 in different不同 light --
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我用不同的光來研究這個天體——
02:48
in ultraviolet紫外線, optical光纖 and near-infrared近紅外線.
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用紫外線、光學和近紅外光。
02:53
Small details細節 on our body身體,
like a scar瘢痕 or wrinkles皺紋,
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我們身體上的小細節,
比如傷疤或皺紋,
02:57
tell the story故事 of our lives生活.
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訴說著我們人生的故事。
02:59
Similarly同樣, a galaxy's星系 structure結構體
in different不同 light
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同樣的,在不同的光底下
看銀河的結構
03:03
can help us trace跟踪 back
their origin起源 and evolution演化.
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能協助我們追溯回
它們的源頭和演化。
03:07
How do I look for these details細節?
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我們要如何尋找細節?
03:10
I model模型 the bright central中央 body身體
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我針對明亮的中央主體建立模型,
03:13
and remove去掉 my model模型 from the image圖片
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再從影像中把我的模型剔除,
03:15
to check for any hidden features特徵,
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來確認有沒有任何隱藏的特徵,
03:18
because a bright structure結構體 in a galaxy星系
may可能 blind our views意見 of faint features特徵,
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因為在銀河中明亮的結構可能
會讓我們看不見暗淡的特徵,
03:24
just like using運用 sunglasses墨鏡
when you are blinded失明 by the intense激烈 light.
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就像強光讓你看不見的時候,
就戴上太陽眼鏡。
03:30
The result結果 was a big surprise.
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而結果是個大驚喜。
03:33
This galaxy星系 doesn't just
have an outer ring,
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這個銀河不只有一個外圈,
03:37
it has an additional額外, diffused擴散的 inner ring.
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它還有額外、散開的內圈。
03:41
We were having a hard time
explaining說明 the origin起源 of the outer ring
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對於霍格式的銀河,
我們就已經很難解
03:46
in Hoag-typeHoag 型 galaxies星系.
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外圈的來源。
03:48
Now we also need to explain說明
this mysterious神秘 second第二 ring.
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現在我們也得要解釋
這神秘的第二個圈。
03:53
There is currently目前 no known已知 mechanism機制
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目前沒有任何已知機制
03:56
that can explain說明 the existence存在 of an inner
ring in such這樣 a peculiar奇特 galaxy星系.
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能夠解釋在這麼特殊的銀河中
為何會有一個內圈存在。
04:01
So the discovery發現 of Bur布林迪拜çin's中的 Galaxy星系
clearly明確地 highlights強調 the gap間隙
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所以,在布奇的銀河被發現之後,
也清楚突顯出了我們
04:06
in our knowledge知識 of galaxy星系 evolution演化.
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對於銀河演化的知識有所不足。
04:09
Further進一步 research研究 into how
this extremely非常 rare罕見 galaxy星系 was formed形成
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若能進一步研究這極度
稀有的銀河是如何形成的,
04:14
can provide提供 us with new clues線索
on how the universe宇宙 works作品.
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我們就能得到一些關於
宇宙如何運作的新線索。
04:21
This discovery發現 tells告訴 us
that we still have a lot to learn學習,
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這項發現,讓我們知道
我們還有很多要學習的,
04:25
and we should keep looking
deeper更深 and deeper更深 in space空間
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且我們應該要在太空中
持續做更深入的探索,
04:29
and keep searching搜索 for the unknown未知.
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不斷尋找未知的事物。
04:32
Thank you.
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謝謝。
04:34
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
Translated by Lilian Chiu
Reviewed by Helen Chang

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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