ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lucianne Walkowicz - Stellar astronomer
Lucianne Walkowicz works on NASA's Kepler mission, studying starspots and "the tempestuous tantrums of stellar flares."

Why you should listen

Lucianne Walkowicz is an Astronomer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. She studies stellar magnetic activity and how stars influence a planet's suitability as a host for alien life. She is also an artist and works in a variety of media, from oil paint to sound. She got her taste for astronomy as an undergrad at Johns Hopkins, testing detectors for the Hubble Space Telescope’s new camera (installed in 2002). She also learned to love the dark stellar denizens of our galaxy, the red dwarfs, which became the topic of her PhD dissertation at University of Washington. Nowadays, she works on NASA’s Kepler mission, studying starspots and the tempestuous tantrums of stellar flares to understand stellar magnetic fields. She is particularly interested in how the high energy radiation from stars influences the habitability of planets around alien suns. Lucianne is also a leader in the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, a new project that will scan the sky every night for 10 years to create a huge cosmic movie of our Universe.

More profile about the speaker
Lucianne Walkowicz | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2011

Lucianne Walkowicz: Finding planets around other stars

露西安・沃可薇姿:在其它恒星周边寻找行星

Filmed:
1,240,810 views

我们如何从其他星系寻找行星-甚至是适宜居住的行星?通过观测行星经过恒星形成的阴影, 露西安・沃可薇与开普勒任务新发现了大约1,200个可能的行星系。利用新的技术,他们或许会发现一个拥有适合生命条件的行星。
- Stellar astronomer
Lucianne Walkowicz works on NASA's Kepler mission, studying starspots and "the tempestuous tantrums of stellar flares." Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

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Planetary行星 systems系统 outside our own拥有
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在我们太阳系之外的行星系
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are like distant遥远 cities城市 whose谁的 lights灯火 we can see twinkling闪烁,
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就好象遥远的城市,我们可以看见有灯火在闪烁,
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but whose谁的 streets街道 we can't walk步行.
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但是却无法踏上城市的街道
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By studying研究 those twinkling闪烁 lights灯火 though虽然,
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然而通过研究这些闪烁,
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we can learn学习 about how stars明星 and planets行星 interact相互作用
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我们可以了解到恒星是如何与行星相互作用
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to form形成 their own拥有 ecosystem生态系统
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来形成他们自己的生态系统
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and make habitats栖息地 that are amenable适合 to life.
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并创造出适宜生命繁衍的栖息地
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In this image图片 of the Tokyo东京 skyline天际线,
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在这张东京的城市图片中,
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I've hidden data数据
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我将从最新型的
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from the newest最新 planet-hunting行星搜寻 space空间 telescope望远镜 on the block,
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行星探测空间望远镜,开普勒任务,所获的的数据
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the Kepler开普勒 Mission任务.
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隐藏在了这个街区里。
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Can you see it?
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可以看见吗?
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There we go.
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在这里。
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This is just a tiny part部分 of the sky天空 the Kepler开普勒 stares凝视 at,
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这只是开普勒观测行星的
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where it searches搜索 for planets行星
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范围中的一小块儿。
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by measuring测量 the light from over 150,000 stars明星,
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通过每半个小时一次
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all at once一旦, every一切 half hour小时,
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精确地测量全部15万颗
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and very precisely恰恰.
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行星的光谱。
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And what we're looking for
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我们想要寻找
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is the tiny dimming调光 of light
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是行星在移动过程中
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that is caused造成 by a planet行星 passing通过 in front面前 of one of these stars明星
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经过恒星时阻挡住射向我们的
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and blocking闭塞 some of that starlight星光 from getting得到 to us.
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一部分光线所造成的暗淡。
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In just over two years年份 of operations操作,
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在仅两年的运行后
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we've我们已经 found发现 over 1,200
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我们发现了超过1200个
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potential潜在 new planetary行星 systems系统 around other stars明星.
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可能是围绕其他恒星运转的行星系统。
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To give you some perspective透视,
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相比较下,
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in the previous以前 two decades几十年 of searching搜索,
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在开普勒任务之前的长达二十年的搜寻中,
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we had only known已知 about 400
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我们只发现了早于开普勒的
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prior to Kepler开普勒.
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400颗行星。
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When we see these little dips骤降 in the light,
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当发现这光亮的减弱
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we can determine确定 a number of things.
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我们可以得到一些信息。
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For one thing, we can determine确定 that there's a planet行星 there,
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一是可以确认那里有一颗行星,
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but also how big that planet行星 is
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还有它的大小,
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and how far it is away from its parent star.
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和距离它所围绕的恒星的距离。
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That distance距离 is really important重要
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这个距离是非常重要的,
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because it tells告诉 us
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因为它能告诉我们
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how much light the planet行星 receives收到 overall总体.
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大致上这行星接受到了多少光。
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And that distance距离 and knowing会心 that amount of light is important重要
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对距离与光照强弱的了解是非常关键的,
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because it's a little like you or I sitting坐在 around a campfire营火:
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这就好像我们坐在一个篝火边上。
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You want to be close enough足够 to the campfire营火 so that you're warm,
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你会想要靠的够近好让自己取暖,
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but not so close
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但是又不可以太近,
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that you're too toasty烤面包 and you get burned.
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导致温度太高把自己烫伤。
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However然而, there's more to know about your parent star
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然而,除了整体上行星会接受到多少光线,
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than just how much light you receive接收 overall总体.
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对恒星的还有许多其他的信息需要了解。
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And I'll tell you why.
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让我来告诉你原因。
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This is our star. This is our Sun太阳.
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这是我们的行星,太阳。
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It's shown显示 here in visible可见 light.
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这里所呈现的是可见光。
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That's the light that you can see with your own拥有 human人的 eyes眼睛.
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就是我们人类的眼睛可以看见的光。
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You'll你会 notice注意 that it looks容貌 pretty漂亮 much
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大家发现这基本上
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like the iconic标志性的 yellow黄色 ball --
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就是典型的我们小时候
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that Sun太阳 that we all draw when we're children孩子.
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所画的象征太阳的黄色圆球。
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But you'll你会 notice注意 something else其他,
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但大家有没有看到还有一些别的东西,
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and that's that the face面对 of the Sun太阳
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这就是太阳的表面
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has freckles雀斑.
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有一些斑点。
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These freckles雀斑 are called sunspots太阳黑子,
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这些斑点被称作太阳黑子,
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and they are just one of the manifestations表现
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他们是太阳磁场
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of the Sun'sSun公司 magnetic磁性 field领域.
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活动的表现之一。
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They also cause原因 the light from the star to vary变化.
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它使得恒星发出的光产生变化。
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And we can measure测量 this
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这个现象是可以用
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very, very precisely恰恰 with Kepler开普勒 and trace跟踪 their effects效果.
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开普勒望远镜非常精确地测量与追踪的。
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However然而, these are just the tip小费 of the iceberg冰山.
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而这也才只是冰山一角而已。
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If we had UVUV eyes眼睛 or X-rayX-射线 eyes眼睛,
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如果我们能看见UV射线与X射线,
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we would really see
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我们会真正认识到
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the dynamic动态 and dramatic戏剧性 effects效果
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太阳磁场活动
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of our Sun'sSun公司 magnetic磁性 activity活动 --
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所产生的活跃又激烈的景象。
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the kind of thing that happens发生 on other stars明星 as well.
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其他的恒星上也发生着同样的事情。
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Just think, even when it's cloudy多云的 outside,
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想想一下,即使窗外乌云密布,
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these kind of events事件 are happening事件
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这样壮观的景象在我们的
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in the sky天空 above以上 you all the time.
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天空之上时刻都在发生。
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So when we want to learn学习 whether是否 a planet行星 is habitable可居住,
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当我们想要了解一颗行星是否适宜居住,
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whether是否 it might威力 be amenable适合 to life,
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是否能承载生命,
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we want to know not only how much total light it receives收到
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我们不仅想要知道它接受到多少阳光,
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and how warm it is,
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温度有多高,
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but we want to know about its space空间 weather天气 --
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我们还想知道它的太空气候。
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this high-energy高能量 radiation辐射,
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由恒星所产生的
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the UVUV and the X-raysX射线
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强力的辐射线,
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that are created创建 by its star
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比如UV射线与X射线。
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and that bathe洗澡 it in this bath of high-energy高能量 radiation辐射.
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行星就沐浴在这些强力的射线中。
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And so, we can't really look
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还有,我们并不能从
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at planets行星 around other stars明星
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其他恒星的行星上获得
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in the same相同 kind of detail详情
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同观察太阳系
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that we can look at planets行星 in our own拥有 solar太阳能 system系统.
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同样详细的信息。
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I'm showing展示 here Venus金星, Earth地球 and Mars火星 --
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我这里展示的是金星,地球和火星--
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three planets行星 in our own拥有 solar太阳能 system系统 that are roughly大致 the same相同 size尺寸,
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这三颗我们太阳系中的行星基本上大小相同,
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but only one of which哪一个
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而其中只有一颗
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is really a good place地点 to live生活.
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适合生命生存。
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But what we can do in the meantime与此同时
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但是我们可以做的是
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is measure测量 the light from our stars明星
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通过测量我们恒星发出的光,
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and learn学习 about this relationship关系
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研究恒星与各个
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between之间 the planets行星 and their parent stars明星
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行星之间的关系。
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to sussSUSS out clues线索
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来摸索出一些线索
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about which哪一个 planets行星 might威力 be good places地方
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好像我们知道在茫茫太空中哪些行星
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to look for life in the universe宇宙.
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可能是会找到生命的地方。
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Kepler开普勒 won't惯于 find a planet行星
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开普勒不会在每一颗
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around every一切 single star it looks容貌 at.
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它所观察的恒星周围发现行星。
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But really, every一切 measurement测量 it makes品牌
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但它所做的每一个测量
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is precious珍贵,
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都非常宝贵。
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because it's teaching教学 us about the relationship关系
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因为它告诉我们
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between之间 stars明星 and planets行星,
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恒星与行星间的关系,
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and how it's really the starlight星光
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还有星光才是真正
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that sets the stage阶段
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在宇宙中为生命的形成
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for the formation编队 of life in the universe宇宙.
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提供条件的角色。
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While it's Kepler开普勒 the telescope望远镜, the instrument仪器 that stares凝视,
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虽然是开普勒望远镜在凝视着太空
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it's we, life, who are searching搜索.
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但最终是我们,在不断地搜寻。
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Thank you.
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谢谢
04:17
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by Guo Tang
Reviewed by Chunxiang Qian

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lucianne Walkowicz - Stellar astronomer
Lucianne Walkowicz works on NASA's Kepler mission, studying starspots and "the tempestuous tantrums of stellar flares."

Why you should listen

Lucianne Walkowicz is an Astronomer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. She studies stellar magnetic activity and how stars influence a planet's suitability as a host for alien life. She is also an artist and works in a variety of media, from oil paint to sound. She got her taste for astronomy as an undergrad at Johns Hopkins, testing detectors for the Hubble Space Telescope’s new camera (installed in 2002). She also learned to love the dark stellar denizens of our galaxy, the red dwarfs, which became the topic of her PhD dissertation at University of Washington. Nowadays, she works on NASA’s Kepler mission, studying starspots and the tempestuous tantrums of stellar flares to understand stellar magnetic fields. She is particularly interested in how the high energy radiation from stars influences the habitability of planets around alien suns. Lucianne is also a leader in the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, a new project that will scan the sky every night for 10 years to create a huge cosmic movie of our Universe.

More profile about the speaker
Lucianne Walkowicz | Speaker | TED.com