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As the universe continues to dance to its ancient rhythm,
随着宇宙继续沿着古老的节奏发展
stars will come and go in a relentless cycle
恒星将进入一个永不间断的循环
and because there are hundreds of billions of stars,
而正因为有着上千亿颗恒星
there is always one dying in the supernova somewhere.
总有一颗在超新星爆发中消亡
In our galaxy for instance,
比如在银河系中
a star dies every 50 years or so,
大约每50年就有一颗恒星消亡
which is but the briefest of moments to the universe.
这对于宇宙来说只是短短的一瞬
It's just about conceivable that a supernova could damage the Earth,
如果你从长远的角度看，不难想象得到
if you consider the likelihood over a long enough time scale.
超新星爆炸会对地球造成破坏
One kind of supernova discovered
一类偶然被发现的超新星爆炸
entirely by accident is thought to be particularly dangerous.
是极具危险性的
In 1967, when the cold war was at it hight,
1967年，冷战进入白热化阶段时
US military satellites picked up
美国军事卫星探测到
a massive burst of something called gamma radiation.
一组名为伽马射线的大爆发
Gamma radiation is the most dangerous type of radiation known.
伽马射线是已知辐射中最危险的
It's also the tell tale sign of an atomic weapon
这也能明显显示出使用核武器的迹象
whether the gamma rays detected
这组伽马射线能不能
evidence of a new and powerful Soviet bomb,
证明苏联具有新型大杀伤力炸弹呢
thankfully the answer was no.
还好答案是，不能
After careful analysis of the data,
经过仔细的数据分析
they discovered that the sudden bursts of gamma rays
他们发现伽马射线的突然爆发
were actually coming from space.
实际上来自太空
Not even the Russians had that kind of technology.
即便是当时的俄罗斯也不可能具备这种技术
Decades later, we still don't have proof of
几十年后的今天，我们依然不知道
what causes the bursts of radiation.
是什么产生了辐射的爆发
But there is a well-respected theory
但有一个被高度重视的理论
that they are produced by a special kind of supernova,
说它们源自一种特别的超新星爆发
called a gamma ray burst.
伽马射线暴
What's more, there might be one quite nearby.
而且有一个伽马射线暴可能存在于地球附近
Hidden within this massive spiral plume of plasma,
隐藏在巨大的漩涡状等离子群中
8,000 light years from Earth
距离地球八千光年的地方
is a star called WR 104.
有一颗被称作WR 104的恒星
Deep inside the star itself is a bright sphere,
这颗恒星的内部深处是一个明亮的球体
throwing off a shell of hot gas as it nears its end.
在生命的尽头，它向外抛射出炙热的气体外壳
