and superclusters of galaxies… you will see light that has been traveling for 13.7

和超星系團... 你會看到已經運行了13. 7年的光。

billion years to reach earth. It's the oldest and most primeval light in the universe, a

億年才到達地球。它是宇宙中最古老、最原始的光，是一種最原始的光。

picture of our cosmos in its hot younger years, and it's called the "Cosmic Background Radiation,"

我們的宇宙在其炎熱的年輕時代的圖片，它被稱為"宇宙背景輻射，&quot。

Of course you can't really see this light with your naked eyes, because it's in the

當然，你不能真正用肉眼看到這道光，因為它在

microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum. But it is visible to radios and radio telescopes,

電磁頻譜的微波波段。但對收音機和射電望遠鏡是可見的。

and even makes up a small portion of the 'salt and pepper' on an analog TV.

甚至佔了模擬電視上的'鹽和胡椒'的一小部分。

Where does this luminescent background come from? Well, just after the big bang, the entire

這個發光的背景是怎麼來的？就在大爆炸之後，整個

universe was still so small it would have been very dense, scorchingly hot, and, because

宇宙還是那麼小，它將會是非常密集的，炙熱的，而且，因為... ...

it hadn't yet had time to get rough and uneven, it would also have been scrumptiously smooth.

它還沒有來得及變得粗糙不平，它也會被抓得很光滑。

For a while, things would have been so sweltering that electrons didn't settle down as parts

有一段時間，事情會很悶熱，電子沒有沉澱下來的部分'。

of atoms or molecules but instead roamed freely in a kind of red-hot cosmic soup. That soup

的原子或分子，而是在一種紅熱的宇宙湯中自由漫遊。那湯

would have had lots of light bouncing around it, too, scattering off of electrons and protons

會有很多光在它周圍跳動，也會有電子和質子的散射。

like a hall of mirrors or the interior of the sun...

就像鏡子的大廳或太陽的內部... ...

However, as the universe expanded, there was less and less energy to be had in any one

然而，隨著宇宙的膨脹，任何一個人的能量越來越少

place.  And when things had cooled to just below the temperature of the sun, pairs of

的地方。 當事情冷卻到低於太陽的溫度時，對

electrons and protons no longer had the energy to resist each other and they fell into the

電子和質子不再有能量相互抵抗，它們落入了電子和質子。

electromagnetic embrace we call the hydrogen atom. These electrons were so enamored by

我們稱之為氫原子的電磁懷抱。這些電子是如此的迷戀於

their new proton love interests that they effectively began to ignore all the light

他們的新質子夫妻，他們實際上開始忽略所有的光。

bouncing around them. So, with fewer free electrons for light to interact with, the

在它們周圍跳動。所以，隨著與光相互作用的自由電子的減少。

universe suddenly became transparent, and all the pent-up light was sent forth in whatever

宇宙突然變得透明起來，所有的積蓄的光都被送了出來，不管是在什麼地方，都是如此。

direction it had been headed after its last scattering, doomed to travel alone and unnoticed

它最後一次分散後的方向，註定要孤獨地旅行，不被人注意。

through the cosmos. That is, until it bumps into something solid…

在宇宙中穿梭也就是說，直到它撞上了一些堅固的東西... That is, until it bumps into something solid...

When we finally see it here on earth, this light has been stretched so much by the thirteen-billion-year

當我們終於在地球上看到它的時候，這道光已經被130億年的時間拉長了許多。

expansion of space, that, like a record slowing down, its frequency and color have shifted

空間的擴張，就像一張慢下來的唱片，它的頻率和顏色都發生了變化。

from the original sunlight-white all the way to cool microwaves. Thus, it's often called

從最初的太陽光-白色一直到冷卻微波爐。是以，它常被稱為

the "cosmic Microwave background radiation", or CMB. And just as we can tell the temperature

的"宇宙微波背景輻射"，即CMB。就像我們可以知道溫度

of a red or white-hot iron from its glow, this light tells us the temperature of empty

從紅鐵或白鐵的光亮中，我們可以知道空鐵的溫度。

space: currently around 2.725 degrees Kelvin, or minus 270 degrees Celsius.

空間：目前約為開氏2.725度，即零下270攝氏度。

However, the universe isn't exactly 2.725 Kelvin in every direction… if we look closely,

然而，宇宙並不完全是2.725開爾文在每一個方向......如果我們仔細觀察。

there are small and seemingly random but noticeable bumps all over the place, kind of like milk

到處都是看似隨意卻很明顯的小疙瘩，有點像牛奶一樣

that's starting to curdle. Our best understanding is that these cosmic curds formed as quantum

那'的開始凝結。我們最好的理解是這些宇宙凝結物是以量子的形式形成的。

fluctuations in the otherwise creamy infant universe, and then began to coagulate as the

在原本乳白色的嬰兒宇宙中的波動，然後開始凝結，因為

universe cooled and expanded. It's hard to overstate just how small, or

宇宙冷卻和擴張。這是很難誇大的只是如何小，或

un-bumpy, these fluctuations of temperature and density were to begin with - the hot or

凹凸不平，這些溫度和密度的波動一開始就是--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------熱或

cold spots were hotter or colder than their surroundings by a factor of about one in a

寒冷點比其周圍環境更熱或更冷，其係數約為1/1。

hundred thousand - that's like noticing that a bacteria makes a beach ball bigger.

十萬--這就像注意到細菌使沙灘球變大一樣。

But, while this clumping of the universe initially resulted in small variations like the ones

但是，雖然這種宇宙的叢生最初導致了類似的小變化。

we see in the CMB, later on the chunky curds of primordial soup attracted each other gravitationally,

我們在CMB中看到，後來原始湯的塊狀凝結物在引力作用下相互吸引。

and they ultimately coagulated and coalesced to form all of the massive structures in the

它們最終凝結和凝聚形成了所有巨大的結構，其中包括

universe that we see today, like planets, stars, galaxies, and superclusters of galaxies.

我們今天看到的宇宙，比如行星、恆星、星系和超星系團。

So when we look up at the night sky past those galaxies and see the ancient light of the

所以，當我們仰望夜空，經過那些星系，看到古老的光輝。

cosmic microwave background radiation, we're literally seeing the starting point, the proverbial

宇宙微波背景輻射，我們從字面上看到的出發點，眾所周知的。

cream, if you will, from which the starry curds of the universe congealed. Or quite

奶油，如果你願意，從宇宙的星空凝結。或者說

simply, proof that the moon really is made of cheese.

簡單地說，證明月球真的是奶酪做的。

To give you a more complete experience of how awesome the cosmic background radiation

為了讓大家更全面地體驗宇宙背景輻射的厲害之處。

is, we've made an ADVENTURE! map showing it as if it were the out-of-this-world geography

是，我們'已經做了一個冒險！地圖顯示，如果它是這個世界上的地理世界外

of your favorite fantasy series - except it's really the first picture taken of our universe

你最喜歡的幻想系列--除了它'真的是我們宇宙的第一張照片拍攝的

as a baby! We've included pictures of constellations and galaxies with the map, plus an overlay

作為一個嬰兒！我們'已經包括星座和星系的圖片與地圖。我們已經包括了星座和星系的圖片與地圖，加上覆蓋

of what the sky looks like in infrared. And if you're feeling imperial, you can help name

的天空看起來像紅外。如果你覺得自己是帝國主義者，你可以幫助命名為

the oceans and mountains on our map. Head over to bigbangregistry.com to start exploring!

我們地圖上的海洋和山脈。前往bigbangregistry.com開始探索吧!