The moon was an ancient, fossilised world.
月球是個古老的化石世界
Its rocks hadn't changed for billions of years.
它的巖石數(shù)十億年來沒有改變
Scientists were thrilled.
科學(xué)家喜出望外
Basically the surface of the moon kind of froze
基本上來說,月球表面
about roughly 3 billion years ago and preserved
在大約30億年前結(jié)冰
really the first one and a half billion years of its history.
因此保存了月球歷史的頭15億年
The moon tells us very much about
月球大大提升了
the early history of the solar system.
我們對太陽系早期歷史的了解
It's probably one of the best recorders
可說是太陽系早期歷史
of the early history of our solar system.
保存最好的紀(jì)錄
This ancient fossil was a scientific gold mine.
這個古老化石是科學(xué)上的金礦
Because the moon was so well preserved it meant scientists
因為月球保存良好,因此表示科學(xué)家
could finally answer the question that had come to obsess them.
終于可以回答縈繞心頭多年的問題:
How was the moon formed?
月球是如何形成的?
At the time, there were 2 competing theories.
當(dāng)時有兩派說法
The first was that the moon and the earth
一派主張月球和地球來自相同的星云
were formed at the same time, from the same cloud of dust and gas.
并在同時形成
The other theory was that the moon
另一派則主張
was originally nothing do with the earth,
月球原本與月球毫無瓜葛
but was wandering alone in space until the earth
而是兀自地在太空中漫游
sucked it in with the power of its gravity.
直到被地球的引力吸住為止
But the rocks themselves didn't seem to support either theory.
但月巖讓這兩派說法不攻自破
They were different enough from rocks on earth
它們和地球上的巖石的差異
to make it unlikely they were all formed at the same time.
讓人覺得它們不太可能是同時形成的
But they had enough similarities to make it equally unlikely
但兩者間的相似性又讓人覺得
that the moon was a completely foreign body.
月球不可能和地球毫無瓜葛
Eventually scientists came up with a new theory
最后科學(xué)家終于提出了一個新的理論
that explained these strange rocks.
來解釋這些奇特的巖石
It was a brutal tale.
但這是個殘酷的故事
It takes us back 4 billion years to
這要從40億年前說起
when the solar system was a young and volatile place.
當(dāng)時的太陽系新近形成,動蕩不安
There were many planets and asteroids circling the sun.
太陽周圍有許多行星和小行星
One of these was a young earth.
其中之一就是年輕的地球
But there was also another young planet, a bit smaller.
但當(dāng)時還有一個體積比較小的年輕行星
The two were on a collision course.
它眼見就要撞上地球
Eventually they crashed together.
小行星終于撞上了地球
It was the biggest bang the solar system had ever seen.
驚天動地的撞擊力道為太陽系中所僅見
The impact was so massive that it spewed out millions of tons
撞擊如此猛烈導(dǎo)致數(shù)百萬頓的
of molten rock and gases.
熔巖和氣體噴出
As this debris circled the earth it came together,
這些碎片環(huán)繞地球時
forming a separate body our moon.
逐漸凝聚形成一個獨立星體,這就是我們的月球
When it first formed the moon was 10 times
月球剛形成時與地球的距離
closer to the earth than it is today.
是現(xiàn)今的十分之一
So it appeared much bigger in the sky
所以看起來不僅大得多
and its gravitational pull was much stronger.
引力也更強
But over time it slowly drifted away from the earth
但隨著時間過去,月球和地球漸行漸遠(yuǎn)
to its present position about a quarter of a million miles away.
直到離地球約25萬里遠(yuǎn)的地方
And there its orbit seemed to have stabilised,
月球的軌道似乎在此處穩(wěn)定下來
its distance from earth fixed for all time.
月球和地球間的距離就此固定,再也沒有任何改變
The moon was an ancient, fossilised world.
Its rocks hadn't changed for billions of years.
Scientists were thrilled.
Basically the surface of the moon kind of froze
about roughly 3 billion years ago and preserved
really the first one and a half billion years of its history.
The moon tells us very much about
the early history of the solar system.
It's probably one of the best recorders
of the early history of our solar system.
This ancient fossil was a scientific gold mine.
Because the moon was so well preserved it meant scientists
could finally answer the question that had come to obsess them.
How was the moon formed?
At the time, there were 2 competing theories.
The first was that the moon and the earth
were formed at the same time, from the same cloud of dust and gas.
The other theory was that the moon
was originally nothing do with the earth,
but was wandering alone in space until the earth
sucked it in with the power of its gravity.
But the rocks themselves didn't seem to support either theory.
They were different enough from rocks on earth
to make it unlikely they were all formed at the same time.
But they had enough similarities to make it equally unlikely
that the moon was a completely foreign body.
Eventually scientists came up with a new theory
that explained these strange rocks.
It was a brutal tale.
It takes us back 4 billion years to
when the solar system was a young and volatile place.
There were many planets and asteroids circling the sun.
One of these was a young earth.
But there was also another young planet, a bit smaller.
The two were on a collision course.
Eventually they crashed together.
It was the biggest bang the solar system had ever seen.
The impact was so massive that it spewed out millions of tons
of molten rock and gases.
As this debris circled the earth it came together,
forming a separate body our moon.
When it first formed the moon was 10 times
closer to the earth than it is today.
So it appeared much bigger in the sky
and its gravitational pull was much stronger.
But over time it slowly drifted away from the earth
to its present position about a quarter of a million miles away.
And there its orbit seemed to have stabilised,
its distance from earth fixed for all time.
月球是個古老的化石世界
它的巖石數(shù)十億年來沒有改變
科學(xué)家喜出望外
基本上來說,月球表面
在大約30億年前結(jié)冰
因此保存了月球歷史的頭15億年
月球大大提升了
我們對太陽系早期歷史的了解
可說是太陽系早期歷史
保存最好的紀(jì)錄
這個古老化石是科學(xué)上的金礦
因為月球保存良好,因此表示科學(xué)家
終于可以回答縈繞心頭多年的問題:
月球是如何形成的?
當(dāng)時有兩派說法
一派主張月球和地球來自相同的星云
并在同時形成
The other theory was that the moon
另一派則主張
月球原本與月球毫無瓜葛
而是兀自地在太空中漫游
直到被地球的引力吸住為止
但月巖讓這兩派說法不攻自破
它們和地球上的巖石的差異
讓人覺得它們不太可能是同時形成的
但兩者間的相似性又讓人覺得
月球不可能和地球毫無瓜葛
最后科學(xué)家終于提出了一個新的理論
來解釋這些奇特的巖石
但這是個殘酷的故事
這要從40億年前說起
當(dāng)時的太陽系新近形成,動蕩不安
太陽周圍有許多行星和小行星
其中之一就是年輕的地球
但當(dāng)時還有一個體積比較小的年輕行星
它眼見就要撞上地球
小行星終于撞上了地球
驚天動地的撞擊力道為太陽系中所僅見
撞擊如此猛烈導(dǎo)致數(shù)百萬頓的
熔巖和氣體噴出
這些碎片環(huán)繞地球時
逐漸凝聚形成一個獨立星體,這就是我們的月球
月球剛形成時與地球的距離
是現(xiàn)今的十分之一
所以看起來不僅大得多
引力也更強
但隨著時間過去,月球和地球漸行漸遠(yuǎn)
直到離地球約25萬里遠(yuǎn)的地方
月球的軌道似乎在此處穩(wěn)定下來
月球和地球間的距離就此固定,再也沒有任何改變