能把我们带回宇宙最早的恒星

Astronomers have found evidence of one of the oldest stars in the universe, a star that lived 13.5 billion years ago, nestled inside a star that’s nearly as old.

天文学家发现了宇宙中最古老的恒星之一的证据，这颗恒星生活在135亿年前，位于一颗几乎和它一样古老的恒星中。

Located 35,000 light-years from Earth, the younger star, known as SMSS J160540.18−144323.1, formed after the older star exploded into a supernova.

这颗较年轻的恒星距离地球35000光年，被称为SMSSJ160540.18−144323.1，是在较老的恒星爆炸成超新星后形成的。

“We’ve found a time machine that takes us back to the Universe’s earliest stars,” said the study’s lead author, astronomer Thomas Nordlander in a statement.

该研究的主要作者、天文学家托马斯·诺德兰德在一份声明中说：“我们发现了一个时间机器，它能把我们带回宇宙最早的恒星。”

“The pattern of elements we found in the star in our galaxy reveals traces of its ancestor,” Nordlander added. “That long-dead star exploded as a supernova – a fairly feeble one at that too.”

诺德兰德补充说:“我们在银河系的这颗恒星中发现的元素模式，揭示了它祖先的痕迹。”“那颗死去已久的恒星爆炸成了超新星——那也是一颗相当微弱的超新星。”

After the formation of the universe roughly 13.7 billion years ago, the first stars began to emerge 200 million years later, according to data from NASA.

根据美国宇航局的数据，大约在137亿年前宇宙形成之后，第一代恒星在2亿年后开始出现。

“Gravity then pulled in more matter from areas of lower density and the clumps grew,” the space agency wrote on its website. “After about 200 million years of this clumping, there was enough matter in one place that the temperature got high enough for nuclear fusion to begin – providing the engine for stars to glow.”

nasa在其网站上写道:“重力将更多的物质从密度较低的区域吸引进来，团块得以增长。”“经过大约2亿年的聚集，在一个有足够物质的地方，温度高到开始核聚变——为恒星发光提供引擎。”

Known as Population III stars, the first-generation stars were massive, perhaps as much as 100 times as large as the Sun. The dead star in question was 10 times as large as the Sun, caused a small supernova and likely did not live very long.

第一代恒星被称为星族III恒星，体积巨大，可能是太阳的100倍。这颗死亡的恒星是太阳的10倍大，形成了一个小的超新星，可能寿命不长。

“We think the supernova energy of the ancestral star was so low that most of the heavier elements fell back into a very dense remnant created by the explosion,” Nordlander said. “Only a tiny fraction of the elements heavier than carbon escaped into space and helped to form the very old star that we found.”

诺德兰德说:“我们认为，这颗古老恒星的超新星能量非常低，大多数较重的元素都落回了爆炸产生的高密度残骸中。”“只有一小部分比碳重的元素逃到了太空中，帮助我们形成了我们发现的古老恒星。”

The carbon elements that escaped from the older star were found inside the slightly younger star, known as SMSS J160540.18−144323.1, which is located in the Milky Way.

从较老恒星逃逸出来的碳元素是在稍年轻的恒星SMSS J160540.18−144323.1中发现的，这颗恒星位于银河系中。

It’s unlikely that any of the universe’s earliest stars survived, but the evidence of an older star found inside SMSS J160540.18−144323.1 can offer a glimpse into the early days of the universe.

宇宙中最早的恒星不太可能存活下来，但是在SMSS J160540.18 - 144323.1中发现的一颗更古老恒星的证据，可以让我们一瞥宇宙的早期。

“The good news is that we can study the first stars through their children — the stars that came after them, like the one we’ve discovered,” study co-author Martin Asplund said in the statement.

研究报告的撰写者之一马丁·阿斯普朗德在声明中说:“好消息是，我们可以通过他们的孩子来研究第一代恒星——那些在他们之后出现的恒星，就像我们已经发现的那颗。

The research was published in the scientific journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters.

这项研究发表在《皇家天文学会月报:快报》上。