【BBC紀(jì)錄片】月球之謎 第九期

The moon was an ancient, fossilised world.

月球是個(gè)古老的化石世界

Its rocks hadn't changed for billions of years.

它的巖石數(shù)十億年來(lái)沒(méi)有改變

Scientists were thrilled.

科學(xué)家喜出望外

Basically the surface of the moon kind of froze

基本上來(lái)說(shuō)，月球表面

about roughly 3 billion years ago and preserved

在大約30億年前結(jié)冰

really the first one and a half billion years of its history.

因此保存了月球歷史的頭15億年

The moon tells us very much about

月球大大提升了

the early history of the solar system.

我們對(duì)太陽(yáng)系早期歷史的了解

It's probably one of the best recorders

可說(shuō)是太陽(yáng)系早期歷史

of the early history of our solar system.

保存最好的紀(jì)錄

This ancient fossil was a scientific gold mine.

這個(gè)古老化石是科學(xué)上的金礦

Because the moon was so well preserved it meant scientists

因?yàn)樵虑虮４媪己?，因此表示科學(xué)家

could finally answer the question that had come to obsess them.

終于可以回答縈繞心頭多年的問(wèn)題：

How was the moon formed?

月球是如何形成的？

At the time, there were 2 competing theories.

當(dāng)時(shí)有兩派說(shuō)法

The first was that the moon and the earth

一派主張?jiān)虑蚝偷厍騺?lái)自相同的星云

were formed at the same time, from the same cloud of dust and gas.

并在同時(shí)形成

 

 

 

The other theory was that the moon

另一派則主張

was originally nothing do with the earth,

月球原本與月球毫無(wú)瓜葛

but was wandering alone in space until the earth

而是兀自地在太空中漫游

sucked it in with the power of its gravity.

直到被地球的引力吸住為止

But the rocks themselves didn't seem to support either theory.

但月巖讓這兩派說(shuō)法不攻自破

They were different enough from rocks on earth

它們和地球上的巖石的差異

to make it unlikely they were all formed at the same time.

讓人覺(jué)得它們不太可能是同時(shí)形成的

But they had enough similarities to make it equally unlikely

但兩者間的相似性又讓人覺(jué)得

that the moon was a completely foreign body.

月球不可能和地球毫無(wú)瓜葛

Eventually scientists came up with a new theory

最后科學(xué)家終于提出了一個(gè)新的理論

that explained these strange rocks.

來(lái)解釋這些奇特的巖石

It was a brutal tale.

但這是個(gè)殘酷的故事

It takes us back 4 billion years to

這要從40億年前說(shuō)起

when the solar system was a young and volatile place.

當(dāng)時(shí)的太陽(yáng)系新近形成，動(dòng)蕩不安

There were many planets and asteroids circling the sun.

太陽(yáng)周圍有許多行星和小行星

One of these was a young earth.

其中之一就是年輕的地球

But there was also another young planet, a bit smaller.

但當(dāng)時(shí)還有一個(gè)體積比較小的年輕行星

The two were on a collision course.

它眼見(jiàn)就要撞上地球

Eventually they crashed together.

小行星終于撞上了地球

It was the biggest bang the solar system had ever seen.

驚天動(dòng)地的撞擊力道為太陽(yáng)系中所僅見(jiàn)

The impact was so massive that it spewed out millions of tons

撞擊如此猛烈導(dǎo)致數(shù)百萬(wàn)頓的

of molten rock and gases.

熔巖和氣體噴出

As this debris circled the earth it came together,

這些碎片環(huán)繞地球時(shí)

forming a separate body our moon.

逐漸凝聚形成一個(gè)獨(dú)立星體，這就是我們的月球

When it first formed the moon was 10 times

月球剛形成時(shí)與地球的距離

closer to the earth than it is today.

是現(xiàn)今的十分之一

So it appeared much bigger in the sky

所以看起來(lái)不僅大得多

and its gravitational pull was much stronger.

引力也更強(qiáng)

But over time it slowly drifted away from the earth

但隨著時(shí)間過(guò)去，月球和地球漸行漸遠(yuǎn)

to its present position about a quarter of a million miles away.

直到離地球約25萬(wàn)里遠(yuǎn)的地方

And there its orbit seemed to have stabilised,

月球的軌道似乎在此處穩(wěn)定下來(lái)

its distance from earth fixed for all time.

月球和地球間的距離就此固定，再也沒(méi)有任何改變