“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.

天文學家對宇宙年齡的新測量結果感到困惑，因為新的測量結果似乎表明，宇宙比它所包含的一些恒星還年輕。

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.

根據他們的最佳估計，宇宙大約有138億年的歷史，但在地球附近有一顆恒星，HD140283，看起來有145億年的歷史。

"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.

物理學家羅伯特·馬修斯(Robert Matthews)在阿聯(lián)酋出版的英文報紙《國家報》(the National)上撰文稱:“這是一個宇宙級的謎題:宇宙中怎么會有比自身年齡更大的恒星?”

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

“這是天文學家們現在面臨的難題，他們試圖確定宇宙的年齡，而它的解決方案可能引發(fā)一場科學革命。”

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.

馬修斯博士是英國皇家天文學會的成員，他說，最近對大爆炸后遺留下來的宇宙背景輻射的測量非常精確地顯示，宇宙的年齡是138億年，正負誤差大約2000萬年。

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，測量顯示HD140283——被稱為“瑪士撒拉之星”——大約在145億年前，因為它的金屬含量極低。

"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."

馬修斯博士寫道:“天文學家現在知道它含有的鐵元素非常少，這意味著它一定是在這種元素在宇宙中普遍存在之前形成的。這意味著HD140283肯定和宇宙本身一樣古老。”

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145億比138億要大，那么到底是怎么回事呢?好吧，就算美國宇航局對HD140283的年齡估計是不精確的——它可能比145億年輕8億年，或者更老。但低于138億歲也只是很小的幾率。

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

馬修斯博士說，對引力波的新研究可以解決這一矛盾，但目前還處于早期階段。

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

他寫道:“與此同時，理論家們一直忙于構思可能解決這個問題的新物理學。”

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)一詞的創(chuàng)造者弗雷德·霍伊爾(Fred Hoyle)提出的一個想法的復興。弗雷德爵士輕蔑地使用了這個詞，他認為物質是不斷被創(chuàng)造出來的，宇宙沒有開始，而是永遠存在的。

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.

馬修斯博士說，盡管目前對物質起源的解釋存在缺陷，但大多數科學家會認為這是一種“更神秘”的狀態(tài)。

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

“但現在，理論家們正在重新審視這些‘瘋狂’的想法，因為宇宙年齡的問題卷土重來。”