“比宇宙更古老”的恒星

“比宇宙更古老”的恒星

Astronomers are baffled by new measurements of the age of the universe which appear to suggest it's younger than some of the stars it contains.

天文学家对宇宙年龄的新测量结果感到困惑，因为新的测量结果似乎表明，宇宙比它所包含的一些恒星还年轻。

According to their best estimates, the universe is about 13.8 billion years old - but there's a star relatively near to Earth, HD 140283, which appears to be 14.5 billion years old.

根据他们的最佳估计，宇宙大约有138亿年的历史，但在地球附近有一颗恒星，HD140283，看起来有145亿年的历史。

"It's a riddle of cosmic proportions: how can the universe contain stars older than itself?" physicist Robert Matthews wrote for The National, an English-language newspaper published in UAE.

物理学家罗伯特·马修斯(Robert Matthews)在阿联酋出版的英文报纸《国家报》(the National)上撰文称:“这是一个宇宙级的谜题:宇宙中怎么会有比自身年龄更大的恒星?”

"That's the conundrum now facing astronomers trying to establish the age of the universe - and its resolution could spark a scientific revolution."

“这是天文学家们现在面临的难题，他们试图确定宇宙的年龄，而它的解决方案可能引发一场科学革命。”

Dr Matthews, a member of the UK's Royal Astronomical Society, said recent measurements of the cosmic background radiation left over after the Big Bang very precisely show the universe to be 13.8 billion years, plus or minus about 20 million years.

马修斯博士是英国皇家天文学会的成员，他说，最近对大爆炸后遗留下来的宇宙背景辐射的测量非常精确地显示，宇宙的年龄是138亿年，正负误差大约2000万年。

But in 2013, measurements suggested HD 140283 - dubbed the 'Methuselah star' after the biblical figure said to have lived to the ripe old age of 969 - was about 14.5 billion years ago, based on its extremely low metal content.

但是在2013年，测量显示HD140283——被称为“玛士撒拉之星”——大约在145亿年前，因为它的金属含量极低。

"Astronomers now know it contains very little iron - which means it must have been formed before this element became common in the universe," wrote Dr Matthews. "And that implies HD 140283 must be almost as old as the universe itself."

马修斯博士写道:“天文学家现在知道它含有的铁元素非常少，这意味着它一定是在这种元素在宇宙中普遍存在之前形成的。这意味着HD140283肯定和宇宙本身一样古老。”

But 14.5 billion is a bigger number than 13.8 billion - so what's going on? Well, NASA's estimate of HD 140283's age is imprecise - it could be about 800 million years younger, or possibly older, than 14.5 billion. But that leaves only a slim chance its age is lower than 13.8 billion.

但是145亿比138亿要大，那么到底是怎么回事呢?好吧，就算美国宇航局对HD140283的年龄估计是不精确的——它可能比145亿年轻8亿年，或者更老。但低于138亿岁也只是很小的几率。

Dr Matthews says new research into gravitational waves could resolve the paradox, but it's still early days.

马修斯博士说，对引力波的新研究可以解决这一矛盾，但目前还处于早期阶段。

"In the meantime, theorists have been busy dreaming up new physics that might solve the problem," he wrote.

他写道:“与此同时，理论家们一直忙于构思可能解决这个问题的新物理学。”

One is a revival of an idea thought up by the man who coined the phrase 'Big Bang', Fred Hoyle. Sir Fred used the term disparagingly, believing instead matter was constantly being created and the universe had no beginning, having existed forever.

其中之一是“大爆炸”(Big Bang)一词的创造者弗雷德·霍伊尔(Fred Hoyle)提出的一个想法的复兴。弗雷德爵士轻蔑地使用了这个词，他认为物质是不断被创造出来的，宇宙没有开始，而是永远存在的。

Dr Matthews says most scientists would consider that a "more mysterious" state of affairs than the current explanation for the origin of matter, despite its flaws.

马修斯博士说，尽管目前对物质起源的解释存在缺陷，但大多数科学家会认为这是一种“更神秘”的状态。

"But now, theorists are looking again at such 'crazy' ideas, because the age problem is back with a vengeance."

“但现在，理论家们正在重新审视这些‘疯狂’的想法，因为宇宙年龄的问题卷土重来。”