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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.
它的巖石數十億年來沒有改變
Scientists were thrilled.
科學家喜出望外
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.
保存最好的紀錄
This ancient fossil was a scientific gold mine.
這個古老化石是科學上的金礦
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
撞擊如此猛烈導致數百萬頓的
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
to its present position about a quarter of a million miles away.
直到離地球約25萬里遠的地方
And there its orbit seemed to have stabilised,
月球的軌道似乎在此處穩定下來
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
