This new telescope might show us the beginning of the universe | Wendy Freedman

譯者: xueling Sun 審譯者: Gentian Pan

When I was 14 years old, I was interested in science --

十四歲時，我對科學有很大的興趣，

fascinated by it, excited to learn about it.

興奮地想學習更多。

And I had a high school science teacher who would say to the class,

但高中科學老師卻對學生說：

"The girls don't have to listen to this."

「女孩子不用聽這門課」。

Encouraging, yes.

激勵人心吧！

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

I chose not to listen -- but to that statement alone.

我決定不聽他的話 － 但僅限於這句話。

So let me take you to the Andes mountains in Chile,

讓我帶你們到 智利的安地斯山脈，

500 kilometers, 300 miles northeast of Santiago.

位於聖地亞哥東北方五百公里， 相當於三百英里處，

非常偏遠，非常乾燥， 但也非常的美麗。

It's very remote, it's very dry and it's very beautiful.

And there's not much there.

這裡幾乎什麼都沒有，

There are condors, there are tarantulas,

只有禿鷹、大蜘蛛，

and at night, when the light dims,

以及當夜晚降臨的時候，

it reveals one of the darkest skies on Earth.

呈現出全球最黑的天空之一。

It's kind of a magic place, the mountain.

這座山是一個奇幻的地方，

It's a wonderful combination of very remote mountaintop

一個驚奇的組合：在偏遠的山頂上

with exquisitely sophisticated technology.

結合了精密的科技。

And our ancestors, for as long as there's been recorded history,

自從有歷史記載以來， 我們的祖先

have looked at the night sky and pondered the nature of our existence.

就一直眺望夜空，思考我們的存在，

And we're no exception, our generation.

我們這一代也不例外。

The only difficulty is that the night sky now is blocked

但困難的是

那片夜空現在已經 被城市的光害給遮蓋了。

by the glare of city lights.

And so astronomers go to these very remote mountaintops

所以天文學家 必須在偏遠的山頂上，

to view and to study the cosmos.

才能觀察研究這個宇宙。

So telescopes are our window to the cosmos.

天文望遠鏡， 是我們能看見宇宙的窗口，

It's no exaggeration to say that the Southern Hemisphere is going to be

這句話並不誇張：有人說南半球將是

21世紀天文學的未來。

the future of astronomy for the 21st century.

We have an array of existing telescopes already,

現在已經有一組天文望遠鏡陣列，

in the Andes mountains in Chile,

座落在智利的安地斯山脈上了；

and that's soon to be joined by a really sensational array of new capability.

而且不久之後， 還會有更強大的觀測陣列加入。

There will be two international groups that are going to be building

有兩個國際組織將會在這裡 建造巨型望遠鏡，

giant telescopes, sensitive to optical radiation, as our eyes are.

它對於光線極為靈敏， 就如同我們的眼睛一樣。

There will be a survey telescope

還有巡天望遠鏡，

that will be scanning the sky every few nights.

它會每隔幾天 完成掃描夜空一次。

There will be radio telescopes,

還有電波望遠鏡，

sensitive to long-wavelength radio radiation.

能夠觀察長波長的電波。

And then there will be telescopes in space.

太空中還會有一座新的望遠鏡。

There'll be a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope;

即將接替現有的哈伯太空望遠鏡，

it's called the James Webb Telescope,

命名為「詹姆斯˙韋伯太空望遠鏡」，

and it will be launched in 2018.

將在 2018年發射升空。

還有名為 TESS 的觀測衛星

There'll be a satellite called TESS

that will discover planets outside of our solar system.

專門尋找位在太陽系之外 的其他行星。

For the last decade, I've been leading a group --

我在過去的十年， 帶領了一個團隊 --

a consortium -- international group,

一個國際聯盟組織，

to build what will be, when it's finished,

負責建造一座 即將成為全世界

the largest optical telescope in existence.

最大的光學望遠鏡，

It's called the Giant Magellan Telescope, or GMT.

稱為「巨型麥哲倫望遠鏡」，縮寫為 GMT，

This telescope is going to have mirrors that are 8.4 meters in diameter --

這座望遠鏡中將會若干個鏡片，

每個鏡片直徑為8.4公尺，

each of the mirrors.

That's almost 27 feet.

就是差不多 27 英尺。

So it dwarfs this stage -- maybe out to the fourth row in this audience.

它可以完全遮住這個講台， 也許還能延伸到第四排座位。

Each of the seven mirrors in this telescope

這具望遠鏡的七面鏡片，

will be almost 27 feet in diameter.

每ㄧ片直徑差不多 27 英尺。

Together, the seven mirrors in this telescope will comprise

七面鏡片全部加起來組合成 直徑80 英呎的望眼鏡。

80 feet in diameter.

So, essentially the size of this entire auditorium.

所以實質上，跟這個禮堂一樣大。

The whole telescope will stand about 43 meters high,

這座望遠鏡大約 43 公尺高。

and again, being in Rio,

同樣地，來到里約，

some of you have been to see the statue of the giant Christ.

有些人可能已經看過巨大的耶穌雕像。

The scale is comparable in height;

它們的大小差不多；

in fact, it's smaller than this telescope will be.

事實上，雕像比望遠鏡小一些。

It's comparable to the size of the Statue of Liberty.

望遠鏡的尺寸相當於自由女神像。

And it's going to be housed in an enclosure that's 22 stories --

它即將安裝於一座 22 層的 建物內－總高 60 公尺高。

60 meters high.

But it's an unusual building to protect this telescope.

為了保護這座望遠鏡 它的設計不同於一般建築，

It will have open windows to the sky,

它將有個朝向天空的窗口，

be able to point and look at the sky,

能夠直視天空，

and it will actually rotate on a base --

而且它將靠著底座旋轉 －

2,000 tons of rotating building.

底座是重達2000噸的 旋轉建築物。

The Giant Magellan Telescope will have 10 times the resolution

GMT 擁有哈伯太空望遠鏡 十倍的解析度。

of the Hubble Space Telescope.

It will be 20 million times more sensitive than the human eye.

它的敏感度是肉眼的兩千萬多倍。

And it may, for the first time ever, be capable of finding life on planets

它讓我們第一次能夠 在太陽系以外的行星尋找生命。

outside of our solar system.

It's going to allow us to look back at the first light in the universe --

它能讓我們看見宇宙中第一束光芒－－

literally, the dawn of the cosmos.

就字面意思：宇宙黎明。

The cosmic dawn.

宇宙的黎明。

It's a telescope that's going to allow us to peer back,

它能讓我們看見過去，

witness galaxies as they were when they were actually assembling,

看見銀河系形成時的樣子，

the first black holes in the universe, the first galaxies.

看見第一批黑洞 以及第一批出現的銀河系。

Now, for thousands of years, we have been studying the cosmos,

人類觀察宇宙已有千年的時間，

we've been wondering about our place in the universe.

思索着我們在浩瀚宇宙中的角色。

The ancient Greeks told us

古希臘人告訴我們

that the Earth was the center of the universe.

地球是宇宙的中心。

Five hundred years ago, Copernicus displaced the Earth,

五百年前，哥白尼 推翻了這個概念，

and put the Sun at the heart of the cosmos.

並將太陽放在宇宙的中心。

And as we've learned over the centuries,

幾世紀以，我們學到很多 －

since Galileo Galilei, the Italian scientist,

自從 伽利略 這位義大利科學家

first turned, in that time, a two-inch, very small telescope, to the sky,

第一次將一個兩寸直徑的 小望遠鏡指向天際，

every time we have built larger telescopes,

之後，每次我們建造更大的望遠鏡時，

we have learned something about the universe;

我們對宇宙就有更多認識；

we've made discoveries, without exception.

毫無例外地，每次都有新發現。

We've learned in the 20th century that the universe is expanding

在二十世紀，我們發現了宇宙在膨脹。

and that our own solar system is not at the center of that expansion.

而且太陽系並非宇宙膨脹中心。

We know now that the universe is made of about 100 billion galaxies

現今我們知道宇宙是由 大約一千億個銀河系構成，

that are visible to us,

這是我們能看到的數量。

and each one of those galaxies has 100 billion stars within it.

而每個銀河系都有千億個恆星在其中。

So we're looking now at the deepest image of the cosmos

你現在看到的是

我們所能拍攝到宇宙最深處的影像。

that's ever been taken.

It was taken using the Hubble Space Telescope,

這是哈伯太空望遠鏡所拍攝，

and by pointing the telescope at what was previously a blank region of sky,

在哈伯升空之前 這裡曾是一片空白的天空。

before the launch of Hubble.

And if you can imagine this tiny area,

想像一下這一小片區域，

it's only one-fiftieth of the size of the full moon.

只是我們看到滿月的五十分之一。

So, if you can imagine the full moon.

所以，像一下月圓的樣子。

And there are now 10,000 galaxies visible within that image.

這張照片中能看見大約一萬個銀河系。

And the faintness of those images and the tiny size is only a result

銀河系看起來小，光線微弱

是因為他們離我們非常遙遠。

of the fact that those galaxies are so far away, the vast distances.

And each of those galaxies may contain within it

但每一個銀河系當中，

a few billion or even hundreds of billions of individual stars.

都有數十億甚至數千億個恆星。

Telescopes are like time machines.

望遠鏡也像時光機。

So the farther back we look in space, the further back we see in time.

我們看的距離越遙遠 所看見的就是更久遠的過去。

And they're like light buckets -- literally, they collect light.

它也像是能收集光線的桶子－

So larger the bucket, the larger the mirror we have,

桶子越大，鏡面也越大；

the more light we can see, and the farther back we can view.

我們能看見越多的光線， 也就能看見更久遠的過去。

So, we've learned in the last century

所以在上個世紀我們發現

that there are exotic objects in the universe -- black holes.

宇宙中有著非常奇異的物體 -- 黑洞。

We've even learned that there's dark matter and dark energy

我們也發現看不見的 「暗物質」和「暗能量」的存在。

that we can't see.

So you're looking now at an actual image of dark matter.

你現在看的是一張「暗物質」的照片。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

You got it. Not all audiences get that.

你對了。不是所有觀眾「看得到」。

(Laughter)

（笑）

So the way we infer the presence of dark matter --

所以我們如何推測「暗物質」的存在 ？

we can't see it -- but there's an unmistakable tug, due to gravity.

我們看不到它們－ 但是有引力場的存在。

We now can look out, we see this sea of galaxies

我們看看這銀河系的星海

in a universe that's expanding.

處在一個不斷膨脹的宇宙中。

What I do myself is to measure the expansion of the universe,

我自己的工作是測量宇宙的膨脹。

and one of the projects that I carried out in the 1990s

我在 1990年代參加的一項計畫

used the Hubble Space Telescope to measure how fast the universe is expanding.

用哈伯望遠鏡測量宇宙膨脹的速度。

We can now trace back to 14 billion years.

我們現在可以追溯到 140億年前。

We've learned over time that stars have individual histories;

知道每一個星球 都有自己的一段歷史；

that is, they have birth, they have middle ages

它們有出生，有中年時期，

and some of them even have dramatic deaths.

有些很戲劇性的死亡。

So the embers from those stars actually then form the new stars that we see,

由這些死亡星球的殘骸 變成了新的星球，

most of which turn out to have planets going around them.

甚至有些還有行星圍繞著它們。

And one of the really surprising results in the last 20 years

過去 20年裡最驚人的發現之一

has been the discovery of other planets going around other stars.

就是圍繞著其他恆星公轉的行星。

These are called exoplanets.

它們是「太陽系外行星」。

And until 1995, we didn't even know the existence of any other planets,

直到 1995年，我們 才知道其它行星的存在－

除了繞著我們太陽旋轉之外的行星。

other than going around our own sun.

But now, there are almost 2,000 other planets orbiting other stars

但是現在，有大約 2000個 太陽系外行星－

that we can now detect, measure masses for.

我們能觀測且測量質量。

There are 500 of those that are multiple-planet systems.

500個「多行星」系統，

And there are 4,000 -- and still counting -- other candidates

4000 個數量仍在增加的 「太陽系外行星」的候選者。

for planets orbiting other stars.

They come in a bewildering variety of different kinds.

它們有各種形式的呈現。

There are Jupiter-like planets that are hot,

有類似木星、溫度很高的星球，

there are other planets that are icy, there are water worlds

有冰的、有水的，

and there are rocky planets like the Earth, so-called "super-Earths,"

有全是石頭的行星、 像地球一樣－ 叫做「超級地球」，

and there have even been planets that have been speculated diamond worlds.

甚至還有被認為全都是鑽石的行星。

So we know there's at least one planet, our own Earth, in which there is life.

所以我們知道至少有一個星球有生命－ 我們的地球。

We've even found planets that are orbiting two stars.

我們甚至發現了繞著兩個星球公轉的行星。

That's no longer the province of science fiction.

這不再是只存在於科幻小說中的情節。

So around our own planet, we know there's life,

所以我們知道，在地球之外會有生命。

we've developed a complex life, we now can question our own origins.

我們已經發展出複雜的生命體， 現在可以追溯起源。

And given all that we've discovered, the overwhelming numbers now suggest

根據我們所發現的數字顯示， 巨大的行星－

that there may be millions, perhaps -- maybe even hundreds of millions --

可能會有幾百萬， 甚至幾億個行星 －

of other [planets] that are close enough --

離恆星夠近－

just the right distance from their stars that they're orbiting --

也正好和它公轉中心有適當的距離－

to have the existence of liquid water and maybe could potentially support life.

擁有能夠支持生命的液態水。

So we marvel now at those odds, the overwhelming odds,

所以我們現在驚嘆於這些巧合，

and the amazing thing is that within the next decade,

以及在下個十年將會有驚人發現，

the GMT may be able to take spectra of the atmospheres of those planets,

GMT也許可以採集這些 行星的大氣層頻譜，

and determine whether or not they have the potential for life.

來決定它們是否有可能孕育生命。

So, what is the GMT project?

所以，什麼是GMT計畫？

It's an international project.

這是一個國際計畫。

It includes Australia, South Korea, and I'm happy to say, being here in Rio,

參與有澳大利亞，韓國，並且在里約這裡—

that the newest partner in our telescope is Brazil.

我很高興地說，我們有新成員：巴西。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

It also includes a number of institutions across the United States,

參與計畫的還有一些美國機構，

including Harvard University,

包括哈佛大學、

the Smithsonian and the Carnegie Institutions,

斯密森學會、和卡耐基學院、

and the Universities of Arizona, Chicago, Texas-Austin and Texas A&M University.

亞利桑那大學、芝加哥大學、 德克薩斯奧斯丁大學、和德州農工大學。

It also involves Chile.

智利也參與其中。

So, the making of the mirrors in this telescope is also fascinating

望遠鏡鏡片製造本身就很迷人。

in its own right.

Take chunks of glass, melt them in a furnace that is itself rotating.

取一大塊的玻璃，放到一個 旋轉著的熔爐中熔化。

This happens underneath the football stadium

這是在亞利桑那州大學 橄欖球場底下進行。

at the University of Arizona.

It's tucked away under 52,000 seats.

它藏在五萬兩千張椅子之下。

Nobody know it's happening.

沒人知道他的存在。

And there's essentially a rotating cauldron.

那本來就有一個旋轉時的大鍋。

The mirrors are cast and they're cooled very slowly,

鏡片成形，並且慢慢冷卻，

and then they're polished to an exquisite precision.

然後精緻打磨。

And so, if you think about the precision of these mirrors,

你可以想一下鏡片的精細度：

the bumps on the mirror, over the entire 27 feet,

隆起顆粒在直徑27呎 的整個鏡面上，

amount to less than one-millionth of an inch.

總合不超過百萬分之一英寸。

So, can you visualize that?

所以你能想像到嗎？

Ow!

噢！

(Laughter)

（笑）

That's one five-thousandths of the width of one of my hairs,

是我這根頭髮直徑的五千分之一，

over this entire 27 feet.

在27呎的鏡面之上。

It's a spectacular achievement.

這是一個驚人的成果。

It's what allows us to have the precision that we will have.

它讓我們獲得我們想要的精度。

So, what does that precision buy us?

那麼，這樣的精度能帶來什麼呢？

So the GMT, if you can imagine --

用GMT，想像一下。

if I were to hold up a coin, which I just happen to have,

如果我舉起這－ 我剛好有－

and I look at the face of that coin, I can see from here

我從這個距離看到上面的臉，

the writing on the coin; I can see the face on that coin.

看清楚上面的文字和肖像。

My guess that even in the front row, you can't see that.

我猜即使第一排的觀眾也看不到這些。

But if we were to turn the Giant Magellan Telescope,

如果我用GMT來看

all 80-feet diameter that we see in this auditorium,

我們會在這禮堂用直徑80英尺的GMT

and point it 200 miles away,

對準200英里（約320公里）以外

if I were standing in São Paulo, we could resolve the face of this coin.

如果我站在聖保羅， 大家依舊可以看清這個硬幣。

That's the extraordinary resolution and power of this telescope.

就是這個望遠鏡非凡的解析度與能力。

And if we were --

如果我們－

(Applause)

（掌聲）

If an astronaut went up to the Moon, a quarter of a million miles away,

如果太空人到了月球，離此 25萬 哩外，

and lit a candle -- a single candle --

然後點起一根蠟燭－ 就一根 －

then we would be able to detect it, using the GMT.

我們用GMT 能看得到。

Quite extraordinary.

相當非凡。

This is a simulated image of a cluster in a nearby galaxy.

這是附近銀河系的星團模擬圖。

"Nearby" is astronomical, it's all relative.

「附近」是「天文觀測」的相對的概念。

It's tens of millions of light-years away.

其實它離我們有上千萬光年。

This is what this cluster would look like.

這是星團的大概樣子。

So look at those four bright objects,

看這四個明亮的物體，

and now lets compare it with a camera on the Hubble Space Telescope.

現在我們拿哈伯望遠鏡上 的照相機相比。

You can see faint detail that starts to come through.

你可以看到模糊的細節顯露出來了。

And now finally -- and look how dramatic this is -- this is what the GMT will see.

最後看看這個－ 多麼驚人－ 由 GMT 看到的圖像。

So, keep your eyes on those bright images again.

注意那幾個亮點。

This is what we see on one of the most powerful existing telescopes on the Earth,

這是用現在地球上最強的 望遠鏡看到的，

and this, again, what the GMT will see.

然後這個GMT看到的。

Extraordinary precision.

非凡的精確度。

So, where are we?

那麼，我們到哪？

We have now leveled the top of the mountaintop in Chile.

我們現在已經把智利的山頂弄平了。

We blasted that off.

我們炸平了它。

We've tested and polished the first mirror.

我們已測試與拋光第一面鏡片。

We've cast the second and the third mirrors.

已鑄造第二面和第三面。

And we're about to cast the fourth mirror.

我們即將鑄造第四面鏡片。

We had a series of reviews this year,

今年我們做了一系列的審查，

international panels that came in and reviewed us,

國際委員會審查我們，

and said, "You're ready to go to construction."

他們說：「你們已經能開始建造了」。

And so we plan on building this telescope with the first four mirrors.

所以我們計劃用前四面鏡片 建造這個望遠鏡。

We want to get on the air quickly, and be taking science data --

我們想儘早完工，開始收集科學數據－

what we astronomers call "first light," in 2021.

天文學家所謂的 2021年「第一曙光」。

And the full telescope will be finished in the middle of the next decade,

整個望遠鏡將在未來的十年中期完工，

with all seven mirrors.

七面鏡片將悉數完成。

So we're now poised to look back at the distant universe,

我們將回顧遙遠的宇宙，

the cosmic dawn.

宇宙之黎明。

We'll be able to study other planets in exquisite detail.

我們將能詳細研究其它的行星。

But for me, one of the most exciting things about building the GMT

但對我而言，建造GMT最令人興奮的 －

is the opportunity to actually discover something

莫過於真正探索事物的機會，

that we don't know about -- that we can't even imagine at this point,

探索未知的－ 甚至現在無法想像的事物，

something completely new.

一個全新的世界。

And my hope is that with the construction of this and other facilities,

我的希望是這些設施的建造

that many young women and men will be inspired to reach for the stars.

將能鼓舞年輕人去追求探索這些星球。

Thank you very much.

很感謝。

Obrigado.

謝謝（葡語）

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Bruno Giussani: Thank you, Wendy.

布魯諾：謝謝你，溫蒂。

Stay with me, because I have a question for you.

等一下，我有個問題要請教你。

You mentioned different facilities.

你提到了不同的設施。

So the Magellan Telescope is going up, but also ALMA and others in Chile

所以說麥哲倫望遠鏡正在阿爾馬，智利

and elsewhere, including in Hawaii.

以及夏威夷等地建造。

Is it about cooperation and complementarity, or about competition?

它們會涉及合作，互補或者競爭嗎？

I know there's competition in terms of funding, but what about the science?

我知道有關經費的競爭， 那麼科學方面呢？

Wendy Freedman: In terms of the science, they're very complementary.

溫蒂：科學方面是完全互補的。

The telescopes that are in space, the telescopes on the ground,

不論是太空或是地面望遠鏡，

telescopes with different wavelength capability,

探測不同波長的望遠鏡，

telescopes even that are similar, but different instruments --

相似卻又不同的望遠鏡設備－

they will all look at different parts of the questions that we're asking.

它們探索問題的不同層面。

So when we discover other planets, we'll be able to test those observations,

當我們探索行星的時， 我們將能夠嘗試不同的觀測、

we'll be able to measure the atmospheres,

測量大氣狀況、

be able to look in space with very high resolution.

以及能以高清晰度來觀察太空。

So, they're very complementary.

所以他們都是互補的。

You're right about the funding, we compete;

資金方面，你是對的，我們有競爭。

but scientifically, it's very complementary.

但是科學上，我們是互補的。

BG: Wendy, thank you very much for coming to TEDGlobal.

布魯諾：溫蒂，十分感謝你能來參與 TED Global。

WF: Thank you.

溫蒂：謝謝你們。

(Applause)

（掌聲）