is one of those questions that astrophysicists

是天體物理學家的問題之一。

grapple with all the time.

一直在努力解決這個問題。

Trying to explain it in a way that's easy to understand,

試圖用一種容易理解的方式來解釋它。

well that's a whole other challenge.

那是一個完全不同的挑戰。

In 1977, Charles and Ray Eames,

1977年，查爾斯和雷-伊姆斯。

hugely influential American designers,

具有巨大影響力的美國設計師。

released one of the most elegant and creative pieces

發佈了最優雅和最具創意的作品之一

of science communication of modern times -

現代的科學傳播 -

Powers of Ten.

10的力量。

It took the viewers on a journey from a picnic blanket near Lake Michigan

它把觀眾帶入了一個從密歇根湖附近的野餐毯上的旅程。

to the edge of the known Universe, and back again.

到已知宇宙的邊緣，然後再回來。

Over 40 years later, as a humble homage

40多年後，作為一種謙卑的敬意

to this groundbreaking film,

對這部開創性的電影。

we're going to take a similar journey through time and space

我們將進行一次類似的時間和空間的旅行

and see how our understanding has changed along the way.

並看看我們的理解在一路上是如何變化的。

As in 1977, we'll start with a picnic.

與1977年一樣，我們將以野餐開始。

Though this time, we're on the island of Sicily in Italy,

儘管這一次，我們在意大利的西西里島上。

rather than Lake Michigan.

而不是密歇根湖。

We'll start with a scene one metre wide,

我們將從一個一米寬的場景開始。

viewed from one metre away,

從一米外看。

and every 10 seconds, we're going to move out to 10 times further away,

而每隔10秒，我們將移出10倍的距離。

so the scene will be 10 times wider.

是以，場景將擴大10倍。

This square is 10 metres wide,

這個廣場有10米寬。

and in 10 seconds, the next square will be 10 times that.

而在10秒內，下一個方塊將是這個數字的10倍。

The movement may seem linear,

這個運動可能看起來是線性的。

but we're actually accelerating exponentially into the distance.

但我們實際上正以指數形式加速進入遠方。

This square is 100 metres wide,

這個廣場有100米寬。

the distance someone can run in 10 seconds.

一個人在10秒內能跑的距離。

Well, if they're running at 43km/h, just under the speed of your cat.

好吧，如果他們以43公里/小時的速度跑，剛好低於你的貓的速度。

One kilometre, though our picnickers are indistinguishable now,

一公里，雖然我們的野餐者現在已經分不清了。

we can still clearly see the impact of human activity on the world.

我們仍然可以清楚地看到人類活動對世界的影響。

Ten thousand metres,

一萬米。

or 10 to the 4 metres,

或10到4米。

this is the distance a supersonic plane travels in 10 seconds,

這是一架超音速飛機在10秒內行駛的距離。

and we're now reaching the highest altitude flown by such a plane.

而且我們現在達到了這種飛機飛行的最高高度。

10 to the 5 metres,

10到5米。

this is the distance the International Space Station travels

這是國際空間站行駛的距離

in 10 seconds. There it goes.

在10秒內。就這樣吧。

From here on, human activity will be lost to sight,

從這裡開始，人類活動將失去蹤影。

we're at the scale of countries.

我們是在國家的規模上。

One million metres, or 10 to the 6 metres,

一百萬米，或10到6米。

we've long left Earth's atmosphere,

我們早已離開了地球的大氣層。

and soon we'll see the whole planet. What a jewel.

很快我們就會看到整個地球。真是一塊寶地。

Ten million metres.

1000萬米。

The invisible magnetosphere

無形的磁層

shields us from the dangerous ionising radiation of space.

為我們遮擋了危險的太空電離輻射。

10 to the 8 metres.

10到8米。

This line extends at the speed of light.

這條線以光速延伸。

This is the time it takes for light to reach us from the moon's orbit,

這是光從月球軌道到達我們這裡所需的時間。

the age of moonlight.

月光的時代。

The Earth is now just a pale blue dot in a sky full of stars.

地球現在只是滿天星斗中的一個蒼白的藍點。

Even as we accelerate away,

即使在我們加速離開的時候。

the stars appear stationary because they're so much further away.

恆星看起來是靜止的，因為它們離得太遠了。

So much empty space.

這麼多的空位。

Let's illustrate the orbits of the planets in our solar system,

讓我們來說明一下太陽系中行星的軌道。

otherwise this could get a bit dull.

否則這可能會變得有點沉悶。

Here comes the orbit of Venus,

金星的軌道來了。

then Mars,

然後是火星。

and now Mercury.

而現在是水星。

Since 2010, the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory

自2010年以來，美國宇航局太陽動力學觀測站

has been using an extreme ultraviolet filter

一直在使用極紫外光過濾器

to monitor the activity of our Sun.

來監測我們太陽的活動。

Finally, we reach the orbit of the outer planets,

最後，我們到達外行星的軌道。

the gas giants, but just specks at this distance.

在這個距離上，氣態巨頭只是一些斑點而已。

There's the orbit of Pluto, one of the dwarf planets of the Kuiper belt.

這裡有冥王星的軌道，它是柯伊伯帶的矮行星之一。

10 to the 13 metres, and we're moving out of the solar system.

10到13米，我們正在向太陽系外移動。

In 2012, the Voyager 1 spacecraft became the first human artefact

2012年，旅行者1號航天器成為第一個人類人工製品

to make this journey,

來完成這個旅程。

followed in 2018 by its twin, Voyager 2.

在2018年，它的孿生兄弟旅行者2號緊隨其後。

Both were launched in 1977,

兩者都是在1977年推出的。

the year the Eames were working on Powers of Ten.

這一年，伊姆斯夫婦正在研究《十國力量》。

We're heading into interstellar space,

我們正在進入星際空間。

our Sun is just one of billions of stars,

我們的太陽只是數十億顆恆星中的一顆。

and still at this distance, the night sky looks very similar

而且在這個距離上，夜空看起來非常相似

to what we see at home.

到我們在家裡看到的東西。

This square is 10 to the 16 metres,

這個廣場是10到16米。

the distance light travels in one year, one light year.

光在一年內所走的距離，即一光年。

Here's our closest neighbour, Alpha Centauri.

這裡是我們最近的鄰居，半人馬座阿爾法星。

Three stars for the price of one,

三顆星的價格。

with planets orbiting around them.

有行星繞著它們運行。

I'd love to know what's going on there.

我很想知道那裡發生了什麼事。

Thanks to data collected by the Gaia spacecraft,

感謝蓋亞航天器收集的數據。

we're building a detailed 3D map of the Milky Way.

我們正在建立一個詳細的銀河系3D地圖。

There are between 100 and 400 billion stars in our galaxy alone,

僅在我們的銀河系中就有1000到4000億顆恆星。

and clouds of dust and gas, like these nebulae,

和塵埃和氣體雲，像這些星雲。

where new stars are born.

新星誕生的地方。

Images sent from the Hubble Space telescope

從哈勃太空望遠鏡發出的影像

have been blowing our minds for a generation.

這一代人一直在打擊我們的思想。

As we move away, we begin to the see the great flat spiral of our galaxy.

當我們遠離時，我們開始看到我們銀河系的巨大平坦螺旋。

A few hundred billion stars rotating around a black hole,

幾千億顆恆星圍繞著一個黑洞旋轉。

Sagittarius A*, 4.2 million times more massive than our Sun.

人馬座A*，品質比我們的太陽大420萬倍。

we now think supermassive black holes

我們現在認為超大品質的黑洞

reside at the centre of nearly all galaxies.

駐紮在幾乎所有星系的中心。

These two dwarf galaxies are the Magellanic clouds

這兩個矮小的星系是麥哲倫星雲

which, together with at least 80 others,

其中，連同其他至少80個。

make up what's known as the local group of galaxies.

組成了所謂的在地星系群。

10 to the 22.

10日至22日。

One million light years.

一百萬光年。

Soon we'll pass the supergiant elliptical galaxy M87.

很快我們就會經過超巨型橢圓星系M87。

And if we switch to radio waves,

而如果我們改用無線電波。

we can glimpse the supermassive black hole at its centre.

我們可以瞥見其中心的超大品質黑洞。

Switching back to visible light, as we traverse the Virgo Supercluster,

當我們穿越室女座超星系團時，再切換到可見光。

each tiny dot not a star, but a galaxy.

每一個小點不是一顆星星，而是一個星系。

Billions of stars floating in an ever-growing void.

數以億計的恆星漂浮在一個不斷增長的虛空中。

10 to the 24 metres.

10至24米。

The limits of our vision in 1977.

1977年，我們視野的侷限性。

But over 40 years later, we can show a bit more.

但40多年後，我們可以展示更多一點。

Clusters of galaxies arranged along filaments,

銀河系群沿絲狀排列。

like the Pisces-Cetus Supercluster Complex.

如雙魚座-鯨魚座超星系群。

At 10 to the 26 metres, we switch our view to microwave.

在10至26米處，我們將視野轉向微波。

We can now see the current limit of our vision.

我們現在可以看到我們目前的視野極限。

This light forms a wall all around us.

這種光在我們周圍形成一堵牆。

The light and dark patches show differences in temperature

淺色和深色斑塊顯示出溫度的差異

by fractions of a degree,

的幾分之一。

revealing where matter was beginning to clump together

揭示了物質開始凝結的地方

to form the first galaxies shortly after the Big Bang.

以形成大爆炸後不久的第一批星系。

This light is known as the cosmic microwave background radiation.

這種光被稱為宇宙微波背景輻射。

10 to the 27 metres.

10至27米。

One followed by 27 zeros.

1後面有27個零。

Beyond this point, the nature of the Universe is truly uncharted -

在這一點之外，宇宙的性質確實是未知的------。

and debated.

並進行了辯論。

This light was emitted around 380,000 years after the Big Bang.

這種光是在大爆炸後約38萬年發出的。

Before this time, the Universe was so hot

在這之前，宇宙是如此之熱

that it was not transparent to light.

它對光線不透明。

Is there simply more universe out there, yet to be revealed?

是否有更多的宇宙在那裡，尚未被揭示？

Or is this region still expanding -

或者說這個地區還在擴大------。

generating more universe,

生成更多的宇宙。

or even other universes

甚至是其他宇宙

with different physical properties to our own?

具有與我們不同的物理特性？

How will our understanding of the Universe have changed by 2077?

到2077年，我們對宇宙的理解將發生怎樣的變化？

How many more powers of ten are out there?

還有多少個10的冪？

From a picnic blanket on Sicily to the very edge of our understanding,

從西西里島的一張野餐毯到我們理解的最邊緣。

I salute the Eames for the way they told this beautiful story.

我向伊姆斯夫婦致敬，因為他們講述了這個美麗的故事。

The story of the Universe.

宇宙的故事。