The woman who stared at the sun - Alex Gendler

譯者: Claire Hsu 審譯者: Amanda Zhu

In the spring of 1944, Tokyo residents experienced numerous aerial attacks

1944 年的春天，

東京的居民歷經了 同盟國轟炸機的無數次空襲。

from Allied bombers.

Air raid sirens warned citizens to get indoors

空襲警報警告市民躲進室內，

and preceded strategic blackouts across the city.

並在整座城市進行戰略性的停電。

But 28-year old Hisako Koyama saw these blackouts as opportunities.

但在當時，28歲的小山久子 將這些停電措施視為機會。

Dragging a futon over her head for protection,

小山女士把睡墊蓋在頭上以保護自己，

Koyama would gaze at the night sky,

她會遙望夜空，

tracking all sorts of astronomical phenomena.

追蹤記錄各式各樣的天文現象。

However, her latest endeavor required the light of day.

然而，她最近熱衷的研究 需要在日光下進行。

By angling her telescope towards the sun,

小山女士將望遠鏡朝向太陽，

Koyama could project the star's light onto a sheet of paper,

可將這顆恆星散發出來的光 投射到一張紙上，

allowing her to sketch the sun’s shifting surface.

如此她便能夠拿筆畫下 太陽表面的變化。

She spent weeks recreating this set up, tracking every change she saw.

她花了數週時間重複此一過程， 追蹤記錄她看到的每個變化。

But while Koyama didn't know it,

但小山女士並不知道，

these drawings were the start of one of the most important records

這些圖畫將開啟了人類史上

最重要的太陽活動記錄之一。

of solar activity in human history.

To understand exactly what Koyama saw on the sun’s surface,

要確實了解小山女士 在太陽表面上觀察到的現象，

we first need to understand what’s happening inside the star.

我們首先需要了解 這顆恆星內部的活動。

Every second, trillions of hydrogen atoms

每一秒，數兆個氧分子

fuse into helium atoms in a process called nuclear fusion.

經過一個叫做核融合的過程， 融合成氦分子。

This ongoing explosion maintains the sun’s internal temperature

這個持續不斷的爆破 使太陽內部的溫度

of roughly 15 million degrees Celsius,

保持在攝氏一千五百萬度左右，

which is more than enough energy to transform gas

產生的能量足以將氣體

into churning pools of plasma.

轉化為猛烈翻騰的電漿池。

Plasma consists of charged particles that produce powerful magnetic fields.

電漿由帶電粒子組成， 這些粒子可以產生強大的磁場。

But unlike the stable charged particles that maintain magnetic activity on Earth,

但不同於維持地球磁場的 穩定帶電粒子，

this plasma is constantly in flux,

這種電漿會不斷變化，

alternately disrupting and amplifying the sun's magnetic field.

交替地破壞與強化太陽的磁場。

This ongoing movement can produce

這種持續的運動會產生

temporary concentrations of magnetic activity

暫時性的密集電磁活動，

which inhibit the movement of molecules and in turn reduce heat in that area.

從而抑制分子的運動， 進而減少該區域的熱度。

And since regions with less heat generate less light,

而由於溫度較低之處產生的光線較少，

places with the strongest magnetic fields appear as dark spots

磁場非常強的地方看起來 就像黑色斑點，

scattered across the sun’s surface.

散佈在太陽的表面上。

These so-called sunspots are always moving,

這些所謂的太陽黑子永遠都在移動，

both as a result of plasma swirling within the sphere,

這是由星體內旋轉的電漿 以及太陽的自轉

and the sun’s rotation.

所造成的結果。

And because they’re often clustered together,

因為太陽黑子常常聚集在一塊，

accurately counting sunspots and tracking their movement can be a challenge,

要精準地計算黑子的數量 並追蹤其移動是個挑戰，

depending greatly on the perception and judgment of the viewer.

這十分仰賴觀者的感知與判斷能力。

This is precisely where Koyama’s contributions would be so valuable.

這就是小山女士的觀察 之所以如此珍貴的原因。

Despite having no formal training in astronomy,

儘管未經過任何正式的天文學訓練，

her observations and sketches were remarkably accurate.

她的觀察成果與素描不可思議地精確。

After sending her work to the Oriental Astronomical Association,

她將成果送去東亞天文學會後，

she received a letter of commendation for her dedicated and detailed observations.

學會寄給她一封信， 表揚她用心而詳細的觀察成果。

With their support, she began to visit the Tokyo Museum of Science,

有了學會的支持，她開始造訪 位於東京的國立科學博物館，

where she could use a far superior telescope to continue her work.

她在那裡可以使用 更高階的望遠鏡來繼續她的觀察。

Koyama soon joined the museum's staff as a professional observer,

小山女士不久後加入博物館的工作團隊 成為一位專業的觀測員，

and over the next 40 years, she worked on a daily basis,

而在接下來的四十年間， 她每天都在工作，

producing over 10,000 drawings of the sun’s surface.

繪製了超過一萬張 記錄太陽表面的圖像。

Researchers already knew magnetic currents in the sun followed an 11 year cycle

研究人員已知太陽內部的磁流 遵循著一個 11 年的周期，

that moved sunspots in a butterfly shaped path over the star’s surface.

促使太陽黑子以蝴蝶形狀的路徑 在恆星表面上移動。

But using Koyama’s record,

但是，利用小山女士的記錄，

they could precisely follow specific sunspots and clusters

他們可以精準地追蹤

through that journey.

特定與叢集的太陽黑子之週期路徑。

This kind of detail offered a real-time indication of the sun’s magnetic activity,

這樣的細節提供了 太陽磁場活動的即時跡象，

allowing scientists to track all kinds of solar phenomena,

讓科學家得以追蹤 各式各樣的太陽現象，

including volatile solar flares.

包括難以捉摸的日閃焰現象。

These flares typically emanate from the vicinity of sunspots,

這些閃焰通常會在太陽黑子周圍產生，

and can travel all the way to Earth’s atmosphere.

並且可以一路行進至地球的大氣層。

Here, they can create geomagnetic storms

在這裡，閃焰會引發磁爆，

capable of disrupting long range communication and causing blackouts.

能夠破壞遠距通訊系統並造成大停電。

Solar flares also pose a major risk to satellites and manned space stations,

日閃焰也對衛星與有人進駐的太空站 構成重大的風險，

making them essential to predict and plan for.

因此有必要進行預測及防範。

During an interview in 1964,

1954 年的一次訪談中，

Koyama lamented that her 17 years of observation had barely been enough

小山女士感嘆她 17 年來的 觀察幾乎不足以產出

to produce a single butterfly record of the solar cycle.

一個完整太陽週期的蝶狀路徑記錄。

But by the end of her career, she’d drawn three and a half cycles—

但在她的職業生涯結束前， 她畫出三個半的週期記錄，

one of the longest records ever made.

這是最長久的記錄之一。

Better still, the quality of her drawings was so consistent,

更棒的是，她繪圖的品質非常穩定，

researchers used them as a baseline to reconstruct the past 400 years

研究人員利用這些圖畫作為基線， 再從各種歷史資料來源

of sunspot activity from various historical sources.

重建過去四百年來太陽黑子的活動。

This project extends Koyama’s legacy far beyond her own lifetime,

這項計畫讓小山女士遺留的貢獻 在她死後仍長久地延續下去，

and proves that science is not built solely on astounding discoveries,

證明了科學不只建立在 令人驚嘆的大發現之上，

but also on careful observation of the world around us.

同時也立基於我們對 周遭世界的細心觀察。