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
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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。
Lucianne Walkowicz - Stellar astronomer
Lucianne Walkowicz works on NASA's Kepler mission, studying starspots and "the tempestuous tantrums of stellar flares." Full bio
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.
00:15
Planetary systems outside our own
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在我们太阳系之外的行星系
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are like distant cities whose lights we can see twinkling,
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就好象遥远的城市，我们可以看见有灯火在闪烁，
00:20
but whose streets we can't walk.
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但是却无法踏上城市的街道
00:23
By studying those twinkling lights though,
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然而通过研究这些闪烁，
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we can learn about how stars and planets interact
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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 their own ecosystem
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来形成他们自己的生态系统
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and make habitats that are amenable to life.
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并创造出适宜生命繁衍的栖息地
00:33
In this image of the Tokyo skyline,
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在这张东京的城市图片中，
00:35
I've hidden data
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我将从最新型的
00:37
from the newest planet-hunting space telescope 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 Mission.
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隐藏在了这个街区里。
00:41
Can you see it?
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可以看见吗？
00:43
There we go.
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在这里。
00:45
This is just a tiny part of the sky the Kepler stares at,
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这只是开普勒观测行星的
00:48
where it searches for planets
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范围中的一小块儿。
00:50
by measuring the light from over 150,000 stars,
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通过每半个小时一次
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all at once, every half hour,
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精确地测量全部15万颗
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and very precisely.
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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
00:59
is the tiny dimming of light
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是行星在移动过程中
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that is caused by a planet passing in front of one of these stars
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经过恒星时阻挡住射向我们的
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and blocking some of that starlight from getting to us.
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一部分光线所造成的暗淡。
01:07
In just over two years of operations,
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在仅两年的运行后
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we've found over 1,200
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我们发现了超过1200个
01:12
potential new planetary systems around other stars.
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可能是围绕其他恒星运转的行星系统。
01:15
To give you some perspective,
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相比较下，
01:17
in the previous two decades of searching,
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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 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.
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400颗行星。
01:24
When we see these little dips in the light,
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当发现这光亮的减弱
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we can determine a number of things.
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我们可以得到一些信息。
01:28
For one thing, we can determine that there's a planet there,
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一是可以确认那里有一颗行星，
01:30
but also how big that planet is
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还有它的大小，
01:33
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。
01:36
That distance is really important
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这个距离是非常重要的，
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because it tells us
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因为它能告诉我们
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how much light the planet receives overall.
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大致上这行星接受到了多少光。
01:42
And that distance and knowing that amount of light is important
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对距离与光照强弱的了解是非常关键的，
01:45
because it's a little like you or I sitting around a campfire:
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这就好像我们坐在一个篝火边上。
01:48
You want to be close enough to the campfire 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 and you get burned.
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导致温度太高把自己烫伤。
01:54
However, 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，
01:57
than just how much light you receive overall.
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对恒星的还有许多其他的信息需要了解。
01:59
And I'll tell you why.
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让我来告诉你原因。
02:01
This is our star. This is our Sun.
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这是我们的行星，太阳。
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It's shown here in visible light.
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这里所呈现的是可见光。
02:06
That's the light that you can see with your own human eyes.
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就是我们人类的眼睛可以看见的光。
02:08
You'll notice that it looks pretty much
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大家发现这基本上
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like the iconic yellow ball --
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就是典型的我们小时候
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that Sun that we all draw when we're children.
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所画的象征太阳的黄色圆球。
02:14
But you'll notice something else,
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但大家有没有看到还有一些别的东西，
02:16
and that's that the face of the Sun
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这就是太阳的表面
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has freckles.
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有一些斑点。
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These freckles are called sunspots,
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这些斑点被称作太阳黑子，
02:22
and they are just one of the manifestations
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他们是太阳磁场
02:24
of the Sun's magnetic field.
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活动的表现之一。
02:26
They also cause the light from the star to vary.
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它使得恒星发出的光产生变化。
02:29
And we can measure this
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这个现象是可以用
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very, very precisely with Kepler and trace their effects.
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开普勒望远镜非常精确地测量与追踪的。
02:34
However, these are just the tip of the iceberg.
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而这也才只是冰山一角而已。
02:37
If we had UV eyes or X-ray eyes,
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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 and dramatic effects
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太阳磁场活动
02:44
of our Sun's magnetic activity --
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所产生的活跃又激烈的景象。
02:46
the kind of thing that happens on other stars as well.
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其他的恒星上也发生着同样的事情。
02:49
Just think, even when it's cloudy 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 are happening
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这样壮观的景象在我们的
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in the sky above you all the time.
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天空之上时刻都在发生。
02:57
So when we want to learn whether a planet is habitable,
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当我们想要了解一颗行星是否适宜居住，
03:00
whether it might be amenable 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
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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 weather --
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我们还想知道它的太空气候。
03:09
this high-energy radiation,
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由恒星所产生的
03:11
the UV and the X-rays
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强力的辐射线，
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that are created by its star
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比如UV射线与X射线。
03:15
and that bathe it in this bath of high-energy radiation.
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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
03:20
at planets around other stars
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其他恒星的行星上获得
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in the same kind of detail
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同观察太阳系
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that we can look at planets in our own solar system.
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同样详细的信息。
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I'm showing here Venus, Earth and Mars --
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我这里展示的是金星，地球和火星－－
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three planets in our own solar system that are roughly the same size,
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这三颗我们太阳系中的行星基本上大小相同，
03:32
but only one of which
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而其中只有一颗
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is really a good place to live.
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适合生命生存。
03:36
But what we can do in the meantime
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但是我们可以做的是
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is measure the light from our stars
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通过测量我们恒星发出的光，
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and learn about this relationship
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研究恒星与各个
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between the planets and their parent stars
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行星之间的关系。
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to suss out clues
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来摸索出一些线索
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about which planets might be good places
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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.
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可能是会找到生命的地方。
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Kepler won't find a planet
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开普勒不会在每一颗
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around every single star it looks 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 measurement it makes
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但它所做的每一个测量
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is precious,
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都非常宝贵。
03:59
because it's teaching us about the relationship
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因为它告诉我们
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between stars and planets,
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恒星与行星间的关系，
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and how it's really the starlight
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还有星光才是真正
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that sets the stage
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在宇宙中为生命的形成
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for the formation of life in the universe.
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提供条件的角色。
04:09
While it's Kepler the telescope, the instrument that stares,
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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.
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但最终是我们，在不断地搜寻。
04:15
Thank you.
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谢谢
04:17
(Applause)
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（掌声）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lucianne Walkowicz - Stellar astronomerLucianne 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.
Lucianne Walkowicz | Speaker | TED.com