国家地理频道:哈勃终极望远镜 第5期

Hubble's image of Carina shows a region over 50 light-years across.
哈勃拍摄的船底座星云有50光年宽。
Here too are the EGGs that will one day become stars encircled by planets.
这里也有EGGs，终有一天会演化成行星环绕的恒星。
Among the thousands of newborn stars lurks a surprise.
在数以千计的新生恒星中潜藏着一个意外惊喜。
Within the cloudy halls of Carina, Hubble detects the death throes of a massive star.
在船底座星云云雾遮挠的中心，哈勃探测到一个正在死亡的巨型恒星。
For scientists, a dying star is an opportunity to see the future of our own solar system.
对科学家来说，观测一个濒死的恒星是了解我们太阳系的未来的机会。
What these Hubble images show are shells of gas that serve as tombstones.
哈勃图片显示气态外壳像墓碑一样包裹着濒死的恒星。
Their quiet beauty is deceptive.
它们的宁静之美是假象。

These walls of color are the outer layers of a star much like our sun.
这些彩色外壳是恒星的外层，就象我们的太阳一样。
As a star runs out of fuel, these layers expand, until the gravity of the star can no longer hold them.
当恒星的能量耗尽，它的外层就会开始扩展，直至恒星的重力无法吸引住它们。
Eventually, they are released into space.
最终，它们被释放至太空中，
In 2004, Hubble captures an image that gives us a glimpse of our eventual demise.
在2004年哈勃捕捉的一张图片让我们知道了我们的最终宿命
The Helix Nebula.
旋状星云。
As these outer layers of a star expand, they leave behind a searing hot ball of solidified oxygen and carbon, astronomers call a 'white dwarf'.
当一颗恒星的外层扩展后，只留下中心由固体氧和碳构成的炙热的球体，天文学家称其为“白矮星”。
Someday, the same thing will happen to our own sun.
早晚有一天，太阳也会发生同样的事。
The sun will run out of fuel and that will cause it to expand into a giant red star.
太阳也会耗尽能量，然后太阳扩展成为一颗“红巨星”。
That's bad news for our world.
那对我们来说可真是个坏消息。
The temperature on the surface of our planet will rise over a thousand degrees.
到时地球表面的温度会超过1000度，
All life on earth will perish.
地球上所有的生命都会灭亡。
A wall of hot gas will sweep over the earth, through our solar system, and into space.
炙热的气体会在席卷整个地球、整个太阳系后进入太空。
Every planet and moon in its path will be incinerated.
在其扩展路径上的所有行星和卫星都会被烤焦。
The only thing left of our Sun will be a splash of color visible from thousands of light-years away.
太阳能留下的唯一印记，将会在数千光年以外的地方被看到。
Like this.
就像这样。
So the human race has its warning.
人类由此得到了警示。
We have 5 billion years to clear out of town.
我们还有50亿年的时间来逃离太阳系。
But even the death of our own sun hardly compares to a more powerful downfall.
不过太阳死亡的可怕还无法与一些更大质量的恒星相比。
Some stars are over a hundred times more massive than our sun.
一些恒星的质量要比太阳大几百倍。
The bigger the star, the shorter its life, and the more violent its death.
恒星质量越大，寿命越短，死亡时的变化也更狂暴。