這顆新發(fā)現(xiàn)的恒星可能存在于宇宙誕生之初

這顆新發(fā)現(xiàn)的恒星可能存在于宇宙誕生之初

No one visits the red giant any more.

沒有人再去拜訪紅巨人了。

Tucked away in the Milky Way, some 35,000 light-years from Earth, this star is in the late stages of its existence. Sure, it's puffed up and extremely bright, but it's likely heaving its final hydrogen sigh.

這顆恒星隱藏在銀河系中，距離地球約35,000光年，處于其存在的晚期。當然，它膨脹起來，非常明亮，但它很可能發(fā)出最后一聲氫嘆息。

In the final stages of their existence, stars become bright-burning 'red giants'. (Photo: Raymond Cassel/Shutterstock)

When it does, the star — dubbed SMSS J160540.18–144323.1 — will start burning through its helium stores before retiring into the fabric of space.

屆時，這顆被命名為SMSS J160540.18-144323.1的恒星將在進入太空之前開始燃燒氦存儲。

But if anyone could tell us a story or two about the universe, it's this very extensively named star.

但如果有人能給我們講一兩個關于宇宙的故事，那就是這顆被廣泛命名的恒星。

In fact, the newly discovered star may have been born just a few hundred million years after the universe came into existence some 13.8 billion years ago — making it one of the oldest celestial bodies ever analyzed. An international team of astronomers led by by Thomas Nordlander from the Australian National University described the discovery in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

事實上，這顆新發(fā)現(xiàn)的恒星可能是在宇宙138億年前形成后幾億年后誕生的，這使得它成為有史以來分析過的最古老的天體之一。由澳大利亞國立大學的Thomas Nordlander領導的一個國際天文學家小組在《皇家天文學會月刊》上描述了這一發(fā)現(xiàn)。

Even more fascinating, the ancient beacon may bear traces of stars that have long since come and gone. The true elders of the cosmos, those stars likely contained just hydrogen and helium — the lightest elements on the periodic table — and no metals at all. So when those massive original stars died — and they likely had short lives — they didn't go supernova, but experienced an even more incredibly energetic demise dubbed hypernova.

更讓人著迷的是，這個古老的燈塔上可能有星星的痕跡，這些星星早已來去匆匆。宇宙真正的長者，那些恒星可能只含有氫和氦——元素周期表上最輕的元素——而沒有任何金屬。因此，當那些巨大的原始恒星死亡時——它們的壽命可能很短——它們并沒有變成超新星，而是經歷了一場更令人難以置信的能量消亡，被稱為超級新星。

Until now, their existence has been entirely hypothetical. But as a rare second-generation star, SMSS J160540.18–144323.1 may have picked up some of the DNA of its ancestors when it formed. And while the elder stars are likely long gone, they may have passed down their stories, in the form of their elements, to the next generation.

到目前為止，它們的存在完全是假設。但是作為一顆罕見的第二代恒星，SMSS J160540.18-144323.1可能在它的祖先形成時就已經獲得了一些DNA。雖然古老的恒星可能早已消失，但它們可能已經將自己的故事以元素的形式傳遞給下一代。

According to the Big Bang theory, the universe began some 13.8 billion years ago. (Photo: FlashMovie/Shutterstock)

Like a dying red dwarf some 35,000 light-years away.

就像35,000光年外一顆垂死的紅矮星。

"The good news is that we can study the first stars through their children," study co-author Martin Asplund notes. "The stars that came after them like the one we've discovered."

“好消息是，我們可以通過第一顆恒星的孩子來研究它們，”研究報告的合著者馬丁·阿斯普朗德指出。“就像我們發(fā)現(xiàn)的那顆一樣，它們后面的星星。”