月亮（档案集）

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想象一下这个场景。

Picture this.

你正站在海滩上，突然

You're standing on the beach when

你注意到一些异常现象。

you notice something strange.

地平线看起来不太对劲。

The horizon doesn't look right.

起初，你只能看到一条细长的白线延伸到视线尽头。

At first, all you can see is a thin white line stretching as far as your eyes can see.

随后这条线开始上升。

Then the line starts to rise.

你眯起眼睛，心想或许是光线造成的错觉。

You squint thinking maybe it's a trick of the light.

但那根本不是地平线。

But it's not the horizon at all.

那是一道海浪，30英尺高的水墙，正朝你呼啸而来。

It's a wave, a 30 foot wall of water, and it's racing straight toward you.

你会怎么做？

What would you do?

收听《绝境求生：泰国海啸》，各大播客平台均可订阅。

Listen to Against the Odds, tsunami in Thailand, wherever you get your podcasts.

为纪念梅尔文·布拉格主持《我们的时代》节目二十七周年，本月他将为我们介绍一系列他最珍视的节目中的首期。

Now to mark the end of his twenty seven years this month of presenting In Our Time, we have Melvin Bragg to introduce the first in a series of his most cherished episodes.

《我们的时代》节目带给我的乐趣之一，在于它已成为电波中的大学。

One of the pleasures of In Our Time for me is that it's become the university of the airwaves.

每周，我和无数听众都会惊叹于三位杰出学者分享他们在历史、文化、哲学、科学和宗教领域的专业知识，无论主题宏大或微小。

Each week, I and countless listeners have been marveling as three brilliant academics share their expertise on history, culture, philosophy, science, and religion, no subject too great or small.

我们已制作了近1100期节目，每一期都是心头好，但此刻只能精选几期呈现。

We've made almost 1,100 episodes, each a favorite, but we can only have a few for this occasion.

让我们从2011年这期关于月球的节目开始——这个既熟悉又充满神秘的天体。

So let's start with this one from 2011 on the moon, an object so familiar and so full of mystery.

我们还有如此出色的嘉宾阵容。

And we have such wonderful guests.

比如这期节目中，某个周四早晨坐在我对面的是

In this episode, for example, sitting opposite me in

共同发现首个黑洞的科学家。

the studio one Thursday morning was the man who co discovered the first black hole.

你好。

Hello.

2500年11月30日，伽利略·伽利雷将望远镜对准了月球。

On 11/30/2500, Galileo Galileo pointed his telescope at the moon.

他被眼前的景象震惊了。

He was astonished by what he saw.

他在笔记中写道：我发现月球表面并非光滑平整的完美球体，而是凹凸不平、粗糙多坑，布满凹陷与隆起。

I found the surface of the moon, he wrote, not to be smooth, even, and perfectly spherical, but uneven, rough, and crowded with depressions and bulges.

隆起。

Bulges.

它就像地球本身的面貌，处处点缀着山脉链和深谷。

And it's like the face of the earth itself, which is marked here and there with chains of mountains and depths of valleys.

伽利略是首位如此详尽报告这些特征的人类，但月球凭借其对时间和潮汐的影响力，已让人类着迷了数千年。

Galileo was the first human being to report these features in such detail, but the moon with its power over time and tides has fascinated mankind for millennia.

被锁定在25万英里外的轨道上，作为太阳系中我们最近的邻居，也是唯一的天然卫星，月球对地球生命有着强大的影响。

Locked in orbit a quarter of a million miles away, our closest neighbor in the solar system, and our only natural satellite, the moon exists a powerful influence on life on earth.

已有超过70艘航天器被送往月球，尽管我们已在其表面行走，但对这个45亿年历史的古老岩石仍有许多未解之谜。

More than 70 spacecraft have been sent to the moon, and although we've now walked on its surface, there are still many things about this four and a half billion year old hunk of rock that remain a mystery.

与我一同讨论月球的是利物浦约翰摩尔斯大学的天文学客座教授保罗·默登、剑桥大学天文学研究所的格雷沙姆天文学教授兼外联官卡罗琳·克劳福德，以及伦敦大学伯克贝克学院的行星科学与天体生物学高级讲师伊恩·克劳福德。

With me to discuss the moon are Paul Merden, visiting professor of astronomy at Liverpool John Moors University, Caroline Crawford, Gresham professor of astronomy and outreach officer at the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge, and Ian Crawford, reader in planetary science and astrobiology at Birkbeck University of London.

保罗·默顿，月球是什么？

Paul Merton, what is the moon?

你在介绍中描述得很到位。

You described it well in your introduction.

它是地球的卫星，确切地说是地球唯一的卫星。

It's a satellite of it's the satellite of the of the Earth.

它围绕地球运转，就像地球绕太阳运行一样。

It goes around the Earth just as the Earth goes around the sun.

实际上这种说法让月球处于从属地位，它可能并不喜欢这样。

Actually, that vocabulary puts the moon in a kind of a subordinate position, and it might not really like that.

月球虽比地球小，但体积是地球的四分之一，因此与地球具有可比性。

The moon is, smaller than the Earth, but it's a quarter of the size of the Earth, and it's so it's comparable to the Earth.

可以说，地球和月球构成了一个围绕太阳运行的双星系统。

And you could say that the Earth and the moon form a twin planet that goes around the sun.

月球的轨道半径约为35万公里，即25万英里，几乎是正圆形的。

The the orbit of the moon is a has a radius of about 350,000 kilometers, a quarter of a million miles, pretty much circular.

月球每月绕地球运行一周，因此时间单位'月'便与月球相关联。

And the moon goes around the Earth once every month, hence the name of the unit of time, the month associated with the moon.

它大体呈球形，两极略扁。

It's spherical, pretty much, slightly flattened at the poles.

它有点像梨形，尖端指向地球。

It's a bit pointy, like a pear, and it points towards the earth.

侧面的隆起部分指向地球，地球对这个点有种引力作用。

The the lump on the side points towards the earth, and the earth has a kind of grip on that point.

因此月球总是以同一面朝向地球。

And so the moon always keeps the same face towards us.

所以当你观察月球时，总能看见相同的明暗斑块分布。

So when you look at the moon, you can always see the exactly the same arrangement of gray and bright patches.

我们对它的组成和气候了解多少？

What do we know of its composition and its climate?

其气候很容易描述，因为它根本没有气候。

Its climate is simple to describe because it doesn't have one.

那里没有空气。

It's airless.

在阳光下会非常炎热，而在阴影中则极其寒冷

It's either very hot when it's in the sunlight or it's very cold when it's

非常是什么？

Very being what?

记不清了。

Can't remember.

贝里，我想是108，但我记不清了。

Berry, I think, is a 108 and I can't remember.

是成分问题。

It's composition.

它的密度与地球地壳上的岩石密度非常相似，基本上就是由这些物质构成的。

Well, its density is very much like the density of the rocks rocks on on the the crust crust of of the the earth, and that's pretty much what it's made of.

它由地壳中常见的各种矿物组成，比如玄武岩这类物质。

It's made of all the ordinary kind of minerals that you find in the crust of the earth, things like basalt.

自史前时代起，月亮似乎就对人类文化产生了影响。

Since since, the prehistoric times, the moon seems to have had influence on human culture.

能否谈谈早期人类对月亮产生兴趣的证据？这似乎标志着理性思维的开端。

Can you tell us about the early evidence of of men and women being intrigued by the moon and using it for the beginning, it would seem, of intellectual thought?

用肉眼观察月亮时，最显著的特征就是它有相位变化。

The most noticeable thing that you can see about the moon with the naked eye is the fact that it's got phases.

明亮部分——即被太阳照亮的部分——相对于地球的视角会发生变化。当月亮与太阳同方向时，被照亮的是背面，我们只能看到月亮的暗面。

The bright part, the bits that that's lit up by the sun, changes in aspect relative to the Earth so that when the moon is in front of the sun in the same direction as the sun, it's the back of the moon that's illuminated, and you'd see the dark face of the moon.

当月亮位于地球背向太阳的一侧时，可以看到整个被照亮的半球，这就是满月。

When the moon is behind the Earth or away from the sun, you can see the whole hemisphere, and so it's it's full.

因此你会看到从新月到娥眉月、半月、满月，再重新回到新月的相位循环过程。

And so you see the progression of phases from dark to crescent to half moon to full moon, and then back to a new moon again.

这是一个相当显而易见的现象。

And that's a a pretty obvious thing to notice.

人类从最早期就必定已经注意到了这一点。

And mankind must have seen that right from the very, earliest times.

事实上，现存最早的天文现象观测记录正是关于月相的。

And in fact, the the earliest observations of any astronomical phenomena that now still exist are observations of the phase of the moon.

考古发掘中曾发现两块骨片。

There are two fragments of bone that have been dug up in archaeological circumstances.

一块来自多尔多涅附近的洞穴，另一块是非洲出土的刀柄骨片。

One apiece from some caves near Dordogne, and one, a piece of bone that was the handle of a knife that was found in in Africa.

这些骨片距今约有两万年历史。

And these these date from about 20,000 years ago.

每块骨片上都有呈周期排列的刻痕，以29天为周期记录月相变化，持续约三个月。

And each of them has got scratches or marks on it, which run-in cycles of 29 diagrams of the phases of the moon in groups of 29 running over about three months.

由此可见，两万年前就有人类出于某种原因记录月相变化。

So twenty thousand years ago, there were people who were making notes of the phases of the moon for some reason.

就骨柄而言，可能是外出狩猎的猎人为了及时找到归途，也可能是女性为记录月经周期和生育期。

In the case of the bone handle, it might have been a hunter that was off on a journey, wanted to wanted to find his way back home in time, or it might have been a woman who was keeping track of her menstrual cycle and her fertility for some reason.

那么卡罗琳·克劳福德，我们可以将此视为人类智力活动的最早证据。

So, Caroline Crawford, we could characterize this as the beginning the first evidence or early evidence of intellectual activity among people who became us.

是的。

Yes.

而且月亮在计时方面的重要性确实延续至今——不仅是月周期，还包括观测月升月落的极端时刻。

And certainly the the importance of the moon for the timekeeping continues in terms of longer than a month or so, looking at the extreme of when the moon rises and the moon sets in the earth.

所以到了史前时代，比如公元前3000年左右，就有像巨石阵这样的建筑，它们作为永久观测点用来监测月升月落。

So by the time you get to prehistoric times you have 7,000, 3,000 BC you have structures like Stonehenge which give you permanent observation points to monitor the Moon rise and the Moon set.

正如保罗所说，最初是以月相周期确立月份的概念，后来逐渐与我们现今使用的历法月份脱节。

And as Paul says, you start off with the idea of a lunar cycle establishing a month which eventually gets divorced from the calendar month that we use nowadays.

尽管如此，月亮对我们日常活动的重要性依然有着强大的影响力。

But nonetheless, we've still got this powerful pull about the importance of the moon for the activities that we carry carry out.

它承载着丰富的文化联想。

It's taken a lot of cultural associations.

有收获月、蓝月、猎人月等说法。

There's a harvest moon, the blue moon, the hunter's moon.

你能详细说说这些吗？

Could you develop some of those?

当然可以，因为回溯几个世纪前，夜晚有满月是至关重要的。

Yes, certainly because again if we go back several centuries, having a full moon at night is crucially important.

它能照亮夜空。

It illuminates.

如果你在赶路，它能保障行程安全。

If you're travelling it makes your travelling safe.

对农民而言，满月对收割庄稼极有帮助，特别是秋分前后出现的所谓'收获月'现象——因为通常月亮每天升起时间会推迟约50分钟。

If you're a farmer, if you have a full moon it's enormously helpful when you're gathering in the crops and particularly you have this phenomenon of what we call the harvest Moon that happens around the September equinox because what happens is the Moon rises about an average fifty minutes later each day.

而在秋分前后，每天仅推迟约半小时。

Around the September equinox it's only rising like half an hour later each day.

日落时分，满月便随之升起。

When the sun sets, the full moon rises.

你会遇到连续几天这样的时期：太阳刚落山，紧接着一轮满月就升起，让田里的工人能继续劳作，收割庄稼。

And you get this period of a few days in a row where as the sun sets, you get a full moon rising very soon afterwards, allowing the workers in the field to continue working, bringing the crops.

这就是所谓的收获月，一个月后还有类似的猎人月，满月期间月亮同样能帮助人们在深夜狩猎。

So that's your harvest Moon and there's a similar thing a month later with the Hunter's Moon where the Moon can again help hunting late into the night around the period of the Full Moon.

所以它照亮了这些活动。

So it was illuminating activities.

你提到了蓝月，这同样源于对月亮的观察和这种周期性现象。

You mentioned mentioned Blue Moon, I mean that again, that arises from observations of the Moon and again this period of behaviour.

按现在的理解，这是指一个月内出现两次满月的罕见情况。

And the way we look at it now, it's this occasional occurrence when you get two full moons in one month.

因此当我们说'千载难逢'时，就是指这种不常发生的事情。

So if we say once in a Blue Moon, it's something that doesn't happen very often.

月亮每29天完成一个朔望月周期，一年有12个这样的周期，但会多出11天。

You have the Moon going around its lunar cycle every twenty nine days and you get 12 of those in a year but there are eleven days left over.

所以12个朔望月周期无法正好匹配365天的阳历年。

So the 12 lunar cycles don't fit into three sixty five days of our year.

大约两年半后，累积的多余天数就足够塞进一个额外的朔望月周期。

So, after about two and a half years, you've accumulated enough days that you can pack in an extra lunar cycle.

偶尔你会遇到某个月初和月末各出现一次满月，第二次满月就被称为蓝月。

And every so often you get one month with a full moon at the beginning and the end of the month, and that second moon is now the blue moon.

所以'千载难逢'这个说法，再次体现了这种现象的罕见性。

So again, this idea of once in a blue moon, again, is a very rare occurrence.

我在想，比起狩猎，更温和的活动出现得更晚些，因为当时流行过一阵月球漫步。

I was just thinking rather gentler pursuits are newer than hunting, and because there was a great fashion for moonwalking.

在湖区，据说他们会在明亮的月光下外出，诵读他们的诗篇。

And in the Lake District, at time of words, that they would go out and read by a bright moon, read their poetry.

我只是...我对这个地方很感兴趣，想看看你是否能在满月下阅读。

I just it's I I I'm a place of and I'm interested to see if you could read by a full moon.

你完全可以做到。

You can very well.

即使是我，但我的视力不太好。

Even me, but my eyes were not so good.

所以满月下也能阅读。

So there's reading by a full moon as well.

好的。

Okay.

嗯，这有点奇怪。

Well, that's weird.

这再次证明了满月对我们的祖先有多么重要。

It's another example of just, again, how important the full moon was to our predecessors.

你能告诉我们，虽然我们都知道潮汐由月亮支配，但你能

Can you tell us how we know we we all know the tides are dictated by the moon, but can

告诉我们

you tell

这是如何运作的，以及它如何深刻影响我们的星球吗？

us how that works and how that deeply affects our planet?

嗯，是的。

Well, yes.

是的，我们早就知道潮汐受月球相位的影响。

Yes, we've long since known that the tides are affected by the phase of the moon.

这与月球的引力作用有关。

And it's to do with the gravitational pull of the moon.

不仅仅是月球对地球水体的牵引，它对地球近月面和远月面的水体牵引力是不同的。

And it's not just the fact that the moon pulls on the waters of the Earth, but it pulls differently on the waters on the near side the Earth, near side to the Moon than on the far side.

例如，当你考虑月球引力时，必须意识到它会随着与月球距离的增加而急剧减弱。

So, for example, when you think of Moon's gravity, you have to realise that it drops off very sharply with distance from the Moon.

所以观察地球近月面的水体时，这部分水体受到的月球引力比其下方的地壳更强。

So if you look at the water on the near side of the Moon, so on the side of the Earth nearest to the Moon, it's getting pulled to the Moon more strongly than the Earth underneath it.

水体隆起形成潮汐凸起，基本跟随月球绕地轨道移动，而同时地球在其下方自转。

It rises up to form a bulge of water that then basically follows the moon round in its orbit around the earth but meanwhile the earth is rotating under it.

因此这个潮汐凸起看起来是在地球表面移动的。

So that tide, that bulge appears to travel across the surface of the earth.

它被月球引力牵引着移动。

It's being pulled around by the moon.

但每天实际上会出现两次高潮，因为不仅近月面的海洋被拉向月球，地球背月面的地壳比该侧水体受到更强的月球引力。

But of course there are two tides in every day and you have an equal and opposite high tide because not only is the near side of the ocean being pulled towards the Moon, you also have an effect that on the far side of the Earth from the moon, the earth is being pulled to the moon more strongly than the water on that side.

于是滞后的水体就在海洋中形成了第二个高潮凸起。

And you you have the water that was left behind to create a second high bulge within the oceans.

正如保罗在节目开头所说，它们似乎自成系统——这个双生系统中若没有月球制造潮汐、塑造气候，我们所知的这类地球生命可能就不会存在。

So as Paul said at the beginning of the programme, they do seem to be a system in themselves, twin a twin system without the moon making the tides, making the climate, the sort of life that we know would probably not exist on earth.

确实，这对地球演化至关重要。正如你所说，这些潮汐是地球形态与气候模式的关键组成部分。

Certainly it's been very important for the development of the Earth, and these tides are a crucial part of the pattern of the Earth and the climate, as you say.

伊恩·克劳福德，月球是如何受地球影响的？

Ian Crawford, how's the moon influenced by the Earth?

嗯，其实是相互的，正如保罗所说，地月系统实际上构成了一个双行星。

Well, it's reciprocally, really, because as as Paul said, it's a the Earth Moon system really forms a double planet.

就像月球在地球上引发潮汐一样，地球也在月球上引发潮汐，只不过强度大约是20倍。

So just as the moon raises tides on the Earth, the Earth raises tides on the moon, except they're about 20 times stronger.

这导致的结果就是月球已经被地球潮汐锁定。

So the consequence of this is that the the moon has become tidally locked to the earth.

所以它无法再

So it can no

自由旋转。

longer freely rotate.

这意味着正如保罗描述的，月球具有略微梨形的几何结构。

It means that as Paul described the moon as having slightly pear shaped geometry.

其中部分原因是地球引力在月球上引发的潮汐。

Now part of this is the tide in the raised in the moon by the Earth's gravity.

月球一直在尝试在其潮汐下方旋转，就像地球在水体潮汐下方旋转那样。

And the moon has been trying to rotate underneath its tides as as the Earth does under its water tides.

我们我们以为抱歉。

And we we think sorry.

不得不打断一下。

Had to interrupt.

我只是想弄清楚。

I'm just trying to get it clear.

我们将潮汐与水联系在一起，而月球上并没有水。

We associate tides with water, and we don't see water on the moon.

所以当你谈论月球上的潮汐时，我们实际在讨论什么？

So when you're talking about tides on the moon, what are we talking

没错。

That's right.

所以这些其实是固体潮。

So these these are the body tides.

这些潮汐是由行星的地壳和地幔隆起形成的。

These are the tides raised in the the crust and mantle of the planet.

实际上它会膨胀和回落。

Which actually swells and falls.

是的。

Yes.

当然，由于岩石的粘性远大于水，其潮汐幅度要小得多。

Of course, it's far smaller amount than does water because rock is much more viscous.

但这足以让地球引力锁定月球，迫使月球每绕地球一周就自转一次。

But it's enough for the moon for the Earth's gravity to get a lock on the moon such that the moon is forced to rotate once each time that it orbits the Earth.

因此在我们看来，我们始终只能看到月球的同一面。

And so from our point of view, we only we only see the same the same face on it.

月球被潮汐锁定而始终单面朝向地球，这可能是地球对月球最显著的影响。

But the the so the tidal locking of the moon, so we see just one face, is perhaps the most obvious consequence of the Earth's the Earth's influence on the moon.

但事情还有另一面——地球与月球之间的潮汐作用正导致月球逐渐远离。

But there's another side to this coin, and that that is that the Earth's tidal interaction between Earth and Moon is causing the Moon to recede.

目前月球正以每年约四厘米的速度远离我们，因为地球通过引力将自转能量转化为月球的轨道能量。

So it's currently drifting away from us at about four centimeters per year as the Earth loses its rotational energy and cans it through through gravity to the orbital energy of the moon.

所以月球正在退行，这一过程将持续到两颗星球相互潮汐锁定——那时地球将每月自转一周，月球也每月自转一周，地球始终以同一面朝向月球。不过到那个阶段时，一个月将长达约五十天。

So the moon is receding, and this will actually continue until both planets become locked so that so that the the earth rotates once a month, the moon rotates once a month, and the earth keeps the same face pointing to the moon, and the moon goes but the month of that stage will be about fifty days long.

这不会在短期内发生，很可能要经过数千万年甚至更久。

And it won't happen for many many many probably tens of thousands of millions of years.

但最终当地球与月球完全锁定时，这种相互作用将停止，它们将永远以固定面相望。

But eventually, when the moon when the earth is tightly locked to the moon, this this this interaction will cease, and they'll both just keep the same faces to each other.

那时候会是什么样子呢？

What'll it be like then then?

地球上还会存在昼夜更替之类的现象吗？

Will there be times and stuff here still,

是吗？

is it?

到那时就不会有了，因为两个天体将停止相对旋转。

Well, at at that point, there won't be because the the two bodies will have stopped rotating with respect to each other.

不过这一幕无人能亲眼目睹。

But it will happen no one will live to see it.

在那之前，太阳早就变成红巨星了

The The sun will have become a a red giant star before

但太阳会在那之前就爆炸吧。

But it will have been blown up before that happens.

我想是的

I think that is

哦，那就放心了。

the Oh, that's a relief.

罗伯特，你能告诉我们关于月球的组成以及我们是如何了解其组成的吗？

What can you tell us, Robert, about the composition of the moon and how we know its composition?

是的。

Yes.

是的。

Yes.

我可以。

I can.

月球是一颗小型岩石行星，就像太阳系内层的其他行星——水星、金星、地球和火星一样。

So so the moon is a small rocky planet like the other planets in the inner solar system, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.

我认为，尽管月球是地球的天然卫星，严格来说作为一颗卫星，但从地质学角度看，它最好被视为与太阳系内层其他行星类似的小型岩石行星。

And I think although the moon is a natural satellite of the earth and so strictly strictly as a moon, from a geological perspective, it's best seen as a small rocky planet like the other planets in the inner solar system.

我们主要通过三条证据线了解其组成。

Now we know about its composition really from 03/03 main lines of evidence.

首先是对近地侧表面的观测，最初通过望远镜，后来通过航天器，这使我们也能对远地侧进行观测。

The first is the observation of the surface of the near side, which we can see from the Earth, initially with telescopes and then more recently with spacecraft, which have enabled us to determine the make observations of the far side also.

其次是保罗提到的月球密度，这一点非常重要。

Then there's the density of the moon that Paul's alluded to, which is very important.

事实上，它的密度与地球上的硅酸盐岩石、地幔和地壳岩石相似。

The fact it's got a density similar to silicate rocks, mantle and crustal rocks on the earth.

最后，还有通过对四十年前带回的阿波罗月球样本研究获得的大量地球化学证据。

And then finally, there's the tremendous geochemical evidence that's being produced by or has been learned from the studying the Apollo samples of a moon brought back forty years ago.

这告诉我们什么？

What does that tell us?

你你强调了巨大的，因为你是... 嗯，我想

You you emphasized tremendous since you're Well, I think

我认为阿波罗计划的科学遗产无论如何高估都不为过。

I think the the scientific legacy of the Apollo program can't really be over estimated.

那么，让我们来谈谈我们对月球组成的理解。

And so so Let's talk about our understanding of of of of of of the composition of the moon.

如果我们稍微回溯一下，为了理清背景，如果你从地球上看月亮——每个人都应该这样做。

If we just backtrack a little bit, just to put this in context, if you look at the moon from the Earth, and everyone should do so.

今晚月亮非常显眼。

It's very prominent tonight.

今晚将出现接近上弦月的月相，大家都应该看看。

There'll be a near a near first quarter moon this evening, and everyone should look at it.

当你观察时，会发现月球表面并非均匀一致。

And if you look at it, you'll see there are these the surface is not a homogeneous surface.

有明亮区域和暗色区域，暗色区域就是所谓的月海（lunar mare），而明亮区域则是月球高地。

There are light bits and dark bits, and dark bits are the so called lunar seas, lunar mare, and the bright bits are the so called lunar highlands.

通过研究阿波罗带回的样本，我们精确了解了这些区域矿物成分。

Now what we've learned from examining the Apollo material is the precise mineralogical composition of these.

保罗提到了玄武岩，但实际上玄武岩是火山岩，而月海确实由玄武质火山岩构成。

So Paul mentioned basalt, but it but in fact, basalt is a is a volcanic rock, and the lunar Mare, the lunar seas, are indeed basaltic volcanic rock.

但月球的明亮区域，即所谓月球高地，是由另一种岩石类型组成的。

But the bright areas of the moon, the so called lunar highlands, are made of a another rock type.

这种岩石被称为白长岩，主要由单一矿物斜长石构成，是一种浅色岩石，正是它赋予了月球高地明亮的色泽。

It's called an ostracite, and it's made principally of just a single mineral, plagioclase feldspar, which is a light colored rock, and it gives the lunar highlands its bright its bright color.

因此，从月球地质学的宏观视角来看，正是通过对月球样本的研究，我们得以将月球视为一个地质实体，并深入理解其地质构造，如今对其矿物组成也有了极为详尽的认识。

So I think from a top level point of view from lunar geology, it's studying the lunar samples have enabled us to see the moon as a geological body, and to understand its geology in detail, its mineralogy in quite great detail now.

总之，这三条是主要证据链，但我认为阿波罗计划带回的样本才是让我们能最终解答'月球由什么构成'这一问题的关键。

So those are those are the three main lines of evidence anyway, but I think it is the the Apollo samples that primarily enable us to answer definitively the question, what is the moon made of?

想象一下这个场景。

Picture this.

你正站在海滩上，突然

You're standing on the beach when

注意到某种异常现象。

you notice something strange.

海平面看起来不太对劲。

The horizon doesn't look right.

起初，你只能看到一条细长的白线延伸至视野尽头。

At first, all you can see is a thin white line stretching as far as your eyes can see.

接着这条线开始上升。

Then the line starts to rise.

你眯起眼睛，以为可能是光线造成的错觉。

You squint thinking maybe it's a trick of the light.

但那根本就不是海平面。

But it's not the horizon at all.

那是一道巨浪，30英尺高的水墙，正朝你直扑而来。

It's a wave, a 30 foot wall of water, and it's racing straight toward you.

你会怎么做？

What would you do?

收听《Against the Odds》节目，关于泰国海啸的专题，在任意播客平台均可获取。

Listen to Against the Odds, tsunami in Thailand, wherever you get your podcasts.

保罗·默顿，我能再请教你吗？

Paul Merton, can I come back to you?

关于月球最初如何形成，曾有过多种不同的系列理论。

There'd be a number of different series about how the moon was first formed.

你能简要介绍一两种早期理论，然后聚焦当前主流观点吗？我们稍后会深入探讨。

Can you run through one or two of the earlier ones and settle on the current one, and we'll explore that.

一百二十多年前盛行的一种观点认为，月球与地球曾是一体分裂而成，即所谓的月球裂变起源说。

Well, one, idea which was prevalent at, a hundred and twenty odd years ago was that, the moon and the earth split apart, the so called fission origin of the moon.

如果你观察地球仪，会发现太平洋所在的那半球几乎完全没有陆地。

If you look at a geographical globe, you can see that the, the hemisphere of the Earth where the Pacific Ocean now is is almost empty of land.

当时理论认为，月球像是从那里被——可以说——拽出来的

And the idea was that, the moon got sort of, as it were, plucked out of

挖出来的。

Scooped out.

那片区域。

That area.

比如，地球可能曾高速自转，导致两者分裂开来。

Well, the the the the the Earth might have been rotating very quickly, and the the two split apart, for example.

从动力学角度，现在已知这完全不可能成立。

Dynamically, now known to be absolutely impossible.

所以事情并不是那样发生的。

So it didn't happen like that.

另一种观点认为，月球是在远古时期从遥远的地方被捕获的，当时月球与地球偶然相遇，月球被甩入了绕地球运行的轨道。

Another idea is that the moon was captured from some some distant time in the past, that there was an an accidental encounter between between the moon and the and and the Earth, and the the moon got sort of flung into orbit around around the Earth.

所以这颗行星在宇宙中漂移，受到地球引力的吸引，然后就留在那里了？

So this planet is drifting across the universe and hits the gravitational pull of the Earth and and it stays there?

差不多是这样。

That sort of thing.

可能不是在宇宙中漂移，但至少是在太阳系内漂移。

Possibly not drifting across the universe, but drifting across the solar system anyway.

又或者月球和地球是同时形成的，行星是由太阳系中旋转的尘埃和岩石物质形成的小漩涡——我们所在的位置可能有一个双重漩涡，两样物质同时凝结并彼此相邻。

Or maybe the moon and the and the Earth were formed together at the same time and say the the planets were formed out of little whirlpools in a nebula of dust and rocky stuff that was swirling around the solar system, little eddies in it, and maybe there was a double eddy where we were and and two things condensed both at the same time and next to one another.

于是我们就有了月球和地球。

And so we have a a moon and the earth.

这是主流理论吗？

Is that the prevailing theory?

不是。

No.

现在的理论——自八十年代中期以来流行的理论，被戏称为'大溅射'或'大碰撞'——认为在太阳系早期历史中，存在多个胚胎行星，其中两个相遇并实际发生了碰撞。

The theory now, which has been current since about, the mid eighties, is, a theory which is facetiously called the big splash or the big splat, which is that early on in the history of the solar system, there were a number of embryonic planets, and two of them encountered one another and actually collided.

其中一个是原始地球，另一个是火星大小的行星，被命名为忒伊亚——她是泰坦神，也是月神塞勒涅的母亲。

That one of them was the proto Earth, and the other was the a a planet which is about Mars sized and has been given the name of Theia, who was the Titan and who was the the mother of Selene, the moon goddess.

这两个天体相互碰撞了。

And these two objects collided, one against the other.

它们每一个都是，一个拥有铁质核心的行星，而这两个铁核融合成了一个单一的铁核。

Each of them was a, a planet with an iron core, and the two iron cores coalesced together into a single iron core.

它们每一个都有岩石地幔和外壳包裹，而这些岩石地幔和外壳在这次撞击中全部被挤压变形。

Each of them had a rocky mantle and a crust around them, and the rocky mantles and the and the crusts are all crumpled up in this, in this impact.

大量岩石物质重新凝结落回地球，但也有大量岩石物质凝结成一个独立天体，在轨道上自行组合。

A lot of the rocky stuff condensed on back onto the earth, but a lot of the rocky stuff condensed into a separate body assembled itself in orbit.

那就是月球。

That's the moon.

所以这个理论认为，这是一次偶然事件，完全巧合、幸运、可能独一无二的事件，近乎独特的事件，发生在太阳系非常早期的历史中。

So the idea is that it was a it was a chance event, a completely fluky, lucky, possibly unique event, quasi unique event, in the very early history of the solar system.

多久

How

以前？

long ago?

这个'非常早期历史'具体指什么时期？

What's the very early history?

嗯，我们说的是...太阳系已有45亿年历史，而我们讨论的是太阳系形成后不久的事。

Well, we're talking, the the the solar system is four and a half billion years old, and we're talking soon soon in the history of the solar system.

伊恩·克劳福德，我们能...这是目前最受认可的解释吗？

Ian Crawford, can we, that's now the most favored explanation.

是的。

Yes.

你一直在点头，看来确实如此。

You're nodding away, so it is.

为什么我们大多数时候只能谈论这些尘埃？

Why is it most can we just talk about this dust?

保罗提到这些四处飘散的尘埃。

Paul refers to this dust swirling around.

那么尘埃是什么？这些尘埃到底是什么？

And and what dust what's the dust?

嗯，正如保罗所说，这是假想行星忒亚与原始地球相撞产生的后果。

Well, it's the consequences of the impact of this hypothetical planet Thea with with the proto Earth, as as Paul said.

我还以为这是

And I thought this

撞击之前的事，或者说这是撞击之后的事。

was before the impact, or this is after the impact.

那里有...有...有尘埃存在。

There are there there is there is dust.

那里...那里...尘埃无处不在。

There there there dust is ubiquitous.

每当有固体物质时，就会产生尘埃。

Every time you get solids, you get dust.

但在太阳形成时，曾有一片尘埃在围绕太阳旋转的圆盘中形成。

But there was dust that was formed in a rotating in a disc around the sun at the time that the sun was formed.

最初，那些尘埃来自超新星和宇宙星体中的其他事件，形成了尘埃盘。

Originally, that dust was from supernovae and other events in the celestial universe, in the stellar universe, and that created a dusty disc.

我能再回到尘埃的话题上吗？

Can I just come back to the dust?

那么尘埃里有什么？

So what's in the dust?

我是说，我们体内的尘埃。

I mean, the dust in us.

我们知道

We know

这个我们知道，但尘埃里有什么？

that, but what's in the dust?

如果我们讨论的是根据大碰撞理论形成月球的碎片，那么这些碎片是地球地幔碎片与忒伊亚地幔碎片的混合物——当这个忒伊亚天体撞击地球时，两者完全混合在了一起。

If we're talking about the the debris from which the moon formed according according to the giant impact theory, then that is a a mixture of fragments of the earth's mantle that was knocked off when when this Thayer object struck the earth and fragments of Theia's mantle, and it's all mixed together.

这就是该理论目前最受认可的原因，尽管乍看之下它像是个夸张的假说。

Now the the reason this is currently the most popular theory, because it seems an extravagant theory at first sight.

为什么太阳系里会有这些像失控大炮般横冲直撞的巨行星？

Why why you've got these these giant planets flying around like loose cannons in the solar system?

科学家通常不会第一时间采纳看似不可能的假说。

And time to appeal to something that seems unlikely is not a scientist's first instinct.

但月球科学界坚持这一月球形成理论的原因，归根结底还是基于我们对阿波罗样本数据的理解。

But the reason that lunar science has latched on to this theory for the formation of the moon really, again, is a consequence of our understanding of what the Apollo samples have told us.

关键在于：月球的整体成分与地球相似但不完全相同，存在两个主要差异。

And it's this, that the moon is similar in bulk composition to the Earth, but not identical and with two major exceptions.

首先是月球即使存在铁质核心，其核心也非常小——因为平均密度极低，仅每立方厘米3.5克，而地球密度是5.5克。

The first is the moon has if it if it has an iron core at all, it's got a very small core because its average density is so low, three and a half grams per cubic centimeter instead of five and a half, which is the Earth's density.

因此任何月球理论都必须解释为何月球没有大型铁核。

So your theory of the moon has to explain why the moon doesn't have a large iron core.

我们从阿波罗样本中学到的另一件事是，尽管这些岩石和矿物在许多方面与地球上的相似，但它们极度缺乏挥发性物质。

And the other thing we've learned from the Apollo samples is although the the rocks and minerals are similar to those found on the earth in many respects, they're extremely deficient in volatiles.

因此它们非常缺乏水分。

So they're very deficient in water.

它们非常缺乏钠元素。

They're very deficient in sodium.

它们对所有低沸点的化学元素都非常匮乏。

They're very deficient in all the chemical They're very deficient in all the chemical elements to have a low boiling point.

因此大碰撞理论很好地解释了这两点——当两颗原行星相撞时，如果忒伊亚有核心，它就会与地球核心融合。

And so that the giant the giant impact theory explains both of these quite well because when you have these two planetoids colliding, the cause if Thea had a core, it merges with the core of the Earth.

这样形成的月球仅由早期地球和忒伊亚的硅酸盐成分构成，这场碰撞将是非常剧烈的高能事件，挥发性物质会被沸腾蒸发。

Then you've made the moon out of out of just the silicate component of the early Earth and Thea, and this collision will be a very violent, very energetic event, and the volatile substances will be boiled off and evaporated away.

所以最终用来构建月球的材料就是类似地球的物质减去铁核，再减去挥发性成分。

So what you're left with to build a moon out of is earth like stuff minus the iron core, minus the volatiles.

这很好地解释了月球的化学成分。

And so this explains the chemical composition of the moon well.

但正如保罗所说，这也非常符合我们当前对太阳系形成方式的理解——无数颗微行星在偏心轨道上相互碰撞。

But it's also, as Paul said, very consistent with our current understanding of the way the solar system was formed with many many planet many many planetlets, planetesimals in in eccentric orbits crashing into each other.

克劳福德上校，能否回到月球系统研究的起点？通常归功于1609年进行观测的伽利略，或许顺便提一下同年用望远镜观测月球的英国人托马斯·哈里奥特，但他的素描不够精确且未持续研究？

Colonel Crawford, can I go back to the the beginning of the serious study of the moon, which is credited to Galileo, with his observations in sixteen o nine, maybe a passing reference to Thomas Harriet, an Englishman who pointed to the telescope at the moon in the same year, but his sketches weren't all that good and he didn't follow it through?

伽利略才是我们的关键人物。

We Galileo's our man.

他的发现究竟如何？又是怎样对人们产生如此深远的影响？

What did how did his perceptions and what did affect people in such a profound way?

因为他确实改变了讨论的性质，不是吗？

Because he did change the nature of discourse, didn't he?

确实如此。

It really did.

他是第一个尝试理解通过1609年发明的简陋光学望远镜所看到的月球景象的人。

And he was the first person to try and make sense of what you could see through the moon through this very crude optical telescope that was developed in sixteen o nine.

任何人都能重现这种敬畏感。

And anybody can reproduce this sense of awe.

现在只要用普通双筒望远镜观察月球，它就不再只是一个带有暗斑的完美圆盘。

If you just look at the moon through simple binoculars now, it changes from being just this sort of perfect disc with dark splodges on.

你开始能看到月球上的结构。

You start to see structures on the Moon.

特别是像伽利略那样，观察月球上昼夜分界线时。

And particularly, as if like Galileo did, you look at the dividing line between night and day on the Moon.

这意味着在月球上，日出或日落时分能形成最长的阴影。

So that means on the Moon that sunrise or sunset is where you get the longest shadows.

他能看到月球上有山脉，那些碗状凹陷（我们称之为环形山）正在投射阴影。

And he could see that there were mountains on the moon, that there were these bowl shaped depressions that we call craters on the moon casting shadows.

通过这些阴影，他开始估算高度并确定月球表面崎岖不平。

And from those shadows he could start to estimate the height and just determined that the moon had a rugged landscape.

它与地球很相似。

It was similar to the earth.

这让月球变得更接近我们能够理解和思考的事物。

It brought the moon much closer to something we could understand and we could contemplate.

这让我们能与之建立更深层的联系，而不仅仅把它当作天空中那个我们一无所知的银色球体。

It made it much more we we could connect to it a lot better than just it being this sort of silver orb in the sky that we knew nothing about.

但它也将现实带入了一个近乎神话的领域，不是吗？

But it also brought reality into an area that had had been almost mythological, hadn't it?

月亮曾是完美的球体。

The moon was the perfect sphere.

它高悬于天际。

It was up there.

它象征着无数事物。

It represented all sorts of things.

但其完美性——尤其是完美的球形——才是关键所在。

But its perfection and its spherical perfection were were what mattered.

而他说：并非如此。

And he said, no.

它和我们一样。

It's like us.

表面布满凹凸与沟壑。

It's full of bumps and grinds.

而且

And

是啊。

Yeah.

就像地球也有自己的地貌一样。

It's just like the Earth has a landscape.

它具有这种拓扑结构。

It has this topology.

而且，没错，它确实是一个与地球极为相似的行星，而非天空中某个完美的天球。

And, yes, it is it is very much another planet that's very similar to the Earth, not some perfect celestial sphere in the sky.

你能提醒我们他的观点最初产生了什么影响吗？

Can you remind us of the initial impact of his views?

嗯，这又回到了那个认为天体是完美的观念，这其实是沿袭自古希腊和亚里士多德的思想残余。

Well, again, it's this this idea that the heavens were perfect, really, that it had been left over from the Greeks and Aristotle ideas.

这再次挑战了我们看待整个太阳系的方式。

And again, it's just challenging the way that we viewed the whole solar system.

当然，这与他对木星和银河系的观测密不可分。

And of course, it's it's wound into his observations of Jupiter and of the Milky Way.

这只是他对盛行数百年的传统观念发起的众多挑战之一。

It's just one of his many challenges to the view that prevailed for centuries before hand.

我们越来越接近了，伊恩·克劳福德，先是月球，然后我们派遣航天器去拍摄特写镜头。

And we got closer and closer, Ian Crawford, and to the moon, and and then we sent spacecraft there to look at big close ups.

他们究竟发现了什么？

What did they what did they discover?

他们提前多久避免了眩光干扰？

How far in advance were they from glare?

我认为这显然是我们对月球认知的巨大范式转变——虽然望远镜天文学在研究近月面取得重大进展，但从地球根本看不到远月面。

I think it was obviously, it was a a huge paradigm change in our understanding of the moon because telescopic astronomy had made major progress studying the near side, but can't see the far side at all from the Earth.

最终航天器不仅让我们看到了月球背面，还能对正反两面进行更细致的观测，并最终实现科学仪器登陆月表以及样本带回。

And so a spacecraft finally enabled us both to see the far side and to make much more detailed observations of both near and far side, and eventually, of course, to land scientific instruments on the surface and to bring and to bring samples back.

这一切大多始于1959年。

So most of this started in 1959.

就在人造卫星发射仅两年后，不到两年时间里，苏联将成功发射一系列航天器。

So only two years after Sputnik, within two years of Sputnik, there'll be a series of very successful Russian Russian spacecraft.

首次月球飞越、首个撞击月球的航天器，以及关键性的首次拍摄月球背面的探测器——月球3号，都发生在1959年。

The first flyby of the moon, the first spacecraft to hit the moon, and the first spacecraft crucially to take images of the far side, Luna three, all occurred in in 1959.

可以说这彻底改变了我们的认知。

That's revolutionized our knowledge, I would say.

随后美国人加入了这场竞赛。

And then the Americans took up the fight.

这演变成了政治斗争，对吧保罗？

It became a political struggle, didn't it, Paul?

确切说是太空竞赛。

Well, race, really.

肯尼迪宣称要在六十年代末前将宇航员送上月球，而1969年他确实做到了。

And Kennedy said he was gonna put an astronaut on the moon by the end of the decade, and by the end of the decade '69, he did.

这有什么重要意义？

What was significant about this?

嗯，

Well,

当时的苏联与美国在冷战期间展开竞争，双方都试图在军备和打击能力上压制对方。

Russia, the Soviet Union as it was then, and The United States were competing, of course, in the Cold War, and each wished to demonstrate dominance in in armaments, in in strike capability against the other side.

而太空成为无需实际开战就能展开较量的竞技场。

And space was an arena where that competition took place without actually having to go to war.

俄罗斯

The the Russia

它几乎起到了安抚的作用？

it it almost served a pacifying purpose?

我认为可以这么主张。

I think you could argue that.

是的。

Yes.

我想可以说，有点像奥运会那样。

I think you could argue that a bit like the Olympic Games, I suppose.

你知道，国家之间以和平方式竞争，显然比在全球战争中竞争要好得多。

You know, a lot better to compete one nation against another in a peaceful way than than to compete in a in a global war, clearly so.

这种竞争当然，你无法完全竞争。

I the the the the competition that of course, you can't you can't completely compete.

你没有资源以完全不对等的方式进行竞争。

You haven't got the resources to compete in a completely unscaled sort of way.