英文外刊，科學家發現，極其罕見的大質量恆星爆發事件

Scientists have just seen the biggest star explosion observed to date.

科學家們最近觀測到了迄今為止最大的恆星爆炸事件。

Star explosions are often called supernovas.

恆星爆炸通常被稱為超新星。

The supernova was up to 100 times larger than our and sun and happened in a galaxy far away.

這顆超新星比太陽大100倍，出現在一個遙遠的星系中。

It released two times as much energy as any star explosion ever ob appened about 4.6 billion light years frorht years from Earth, scientists said.

科學家稱,此次超新星釋放的能量是觀測到的任任何恆星爆炸的兩倍，發生在距離地球約46億光年的地方。

A light year is the distance light travels in one year, which is 9.5 trillion kilometers.

一光年指光一年中傳播的距離，即9.5萬億公裡。

The scientists said this explosion might represent a kind of supernova that has only been known in theory until now.

科學家稱，這次爆炸可能代表了一種在理論上直到現在才為人所知的超新星。

Matt Nicholl is an astrophysicist with the University of Birmingham in England.

馬特尼克爾是英國伯明罕大學的天體物理學家。

He told Reuters news agency that two very large stars - each about 50 times the sun's mass - may have ioinedtjoined to make one huge star.

他告訴路透社，兩顆非常大的恆星一每顆質量約為太陽的50倍一可能結合形成了一顆巨星。

He thinks this took place about 1,000 years before the explosion.

他認為這發生在爆炸前1000年左右。

The stars had been part ofa binary system -- two stars pulled toward each other through gravity.

這些恆星曾經是雙星系統的一部分一兩顆恆星通過引力相互吸引。

The joined star exploded in a supernova that has been named SN2016aps.

這顆新合成的恆星在一顆被命名為SN2016aps的超新星中爆炸。

We found that the supernova was able to become so brightecause of a powerful collision" between the matter thrown by the explosion and a shell of gas shaken off by the star a few years before, Nicholl explained.

尼克爾解釋稱:「我們發現超新星之所以能夠變得如此明亮，是因為爆炸拋出的物質與幾年前恆星釋放出的一層氣體發生了強烈碰撞。」

He is lead writer of the study published this week in the journal Nature Astronomy.

這項研究於本周發表在《自然天文學》雜誌上,尼克爾是首席作者。

Stars die in many dfferent vys, depending on thheir size and other properties.

恆星的死亡方式多種多樣，這取決於它們的大小和其他屬性。

When a massive star - more than eight times the mass of our sun - uses up its fuel, it cools off and its center collapses.

當一顆質量超過太陽8倍的大質量恆星耗盡燃料時， 它會冷卻下來，其中心會坍塌。

This launches shocck waves that cause its outer layer to explode so violently that it can shine brighter than whole galaxies.

這個過程會產生衝擊波，導致其外層劇烈爆炸，其亮度可能比整個星系還要亮。

The researchers observed the explosion for two years until it 1c wered to one percent of its highest brightness.

研究人員對爆炸進行了兩年的觀察，直到它的亮度降低到最高亮度的1%。

They said it may have been an example of an extremely rare "pulsational pair-instability" supernova.

他們表示，這可能是一個極其罕見的"脈動對不穩定性」超新.星的例子。

Peter Blanchard explains what that means.

彼得.布蘭查德解釋了這意味著什麼

He said pulsational parinstbilit is when very large stars experience pulsations which throw material away from the star.

他表示，脈動對不穩定性是指非常大的恆星經歷脈動，將物質從恆星.上拋出。

Blanchard, who co-wrote the study, is an astrophyvsist at Northwestern University in IIlinois.

共同撰寫這項研究的布蘭查德是伊利諾州西北大學的天體物理學家。

He said the discovery shows there are many new and exciting things that remain uncovered in the universe.

他稱,這一發現表明，宇宙中還有許多令人興奮的新事物尚未被發現。

Very masive stars like this one were probably more common early in the universe's history. Nicholl said.

尼克爾表示，像這樣的大質量恆星在宇宙早期歷史中可能更常見。

"The nature of those fist stars is one of the big questions in astronomy," Nicholl added.

「那些最早期恆星的性質是天文學中的大問題之一。克爾補充道。

"Seeing things further away means looking back further and further in time.

「對事物探究得更深意味著回溯到越來越久遠。

So we might acually be able to see the very first stars ifthey explode in a similar manner to this one. Now we know what to look for."

因此，如果最早期恆星爆炸的方式和這一顆相似的話，我們也許真的能看到它們。現在我們知道要找什麼了。」