It was in fact the moment of creation, nearly 14 billion years ago when those first atoms got their electrons. That's the moment when the milky cloud clears and the new universe comes into view for the first time. To catch (a) better images of this critical event, NASA launched the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite or COBE. They pointed it out into space where it took the temperature of the universe. By measuring differences in temperature across space, they created the first map of our early universe. The images were called the face of God.
近140億年前,第一批原子獲得電子,這的確是創造性的時刻。此刻混沌的宇宙變得清澈,第一次呈現出新氣象。為了更好地捕捉這關鍵性的時刻,美國太空總署發射了COBE-宇宙背景探測器。探測器掃描太空來測量溫度。通過測量太空內溫度的差別,他們繪制出了第一張早期宇宙的微波輻射圖。這張圖像被稱作神的面貌。
We got gorgeous pictures, baby pictures of the infant universe when it was 380,000 years of age. But there are problems with it. The picture was very fuzzy. The COBE's result was simply not good enough.
我們繪制了斑斕的圖片,那時宇宙只誕生了38萬年,就如同襁褓中的嬰兒。然而,我們也遇到了難題,繪制出的微波輻射圖十分模糊。這一次宇宙背景探測的效果不盡如人意。
So NASA launched an even more advanced satellite WMAP, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. In 2001, David Spergel was part of the team looking for a clear image of the early universe.
因此,美國太空總署又發射了一顆更為先進的衛星WMAP-威爾金森微波各向異性探測器。2001年WMAP探測項目組開始著手繪制清晰的宇宙早期微波輻射圖,物理家大衛·斯伯格也是其中一名成員。
It was exciting to go to the cape. It was one of these moments when we were sitting there, watching this, as they're of my family. Watching the rocket go off. It was very exciting when within a better day we all get our first signal from the satellite. And now it was working, working without problem.
去好望角很令人興奮。我們坐在那里觀察著,覺得它們就是家人,這一刻讓我很難忘??粗鸺撀?。嶄新的一天降臨,我們都接收到來自衛星的第一個信號,對此我們興奮不已。直到現在衛星一直順利地運行工作著。
This is the most detailed picture of the early universe ever taken, just 380,000 years after the Big Bang. The red-yellow areas are warmer, the blue and green regions cooler. And those temperature differences are clues to the future structure of the universe.
這就是目前我們繪制出的最清晰的宇宙早期(大爆炸后僅僅38萬年)背景輻射圖。紅黃區域表示溫度高,藍綠區域表示溫度稍低。這些溫度差異是宇宙未來發展態勢的線索。
You see tiny variations in temperature, those tiny variations in temperature reflect small variations in dense. This region has more matter, this region has less matter.
你也知道,溫度上微小的差別反應了密度上的微小差別。這塊區域包含更多物質,這塊區域就相對少點。
Like a blueprint for the construction of our universe, this image shows us where there's more matter and where there's less. Regions with no matter will become empty space. Areas with denser matter will become the construction sites of galaxies, stars and planets.
像一張描繪宇宙結構的藍圖,這張圖片向我們展示了物質的分布。沒有物質的區域就會變成虛無空間。物質密度高的區域會變成孕育星系、恒星和星球的搖籃。