第2133期:What is left at the heart of a star explosion?

The supernova was visible from Earth for four months, shining with the power of a hundred million Suns. There was so much debris that even the most powerful telescopes could not confirm what remained at its heart. 

曾经长达四个月之久，人们可以在地球上看到这颗超新星，它发出的光芒亮度相当于一亿个太阳。由于恒星爆炸产生大量碎片，即便是用最强大的望远镜进行观测，也无法确认超新星爆炸后的残骸中心是什么。

But that's now changed with new data from Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope. That shows that the remnant is a neutron star, which is a dead star's collapsed core and made of the densest material in the Universe. 

但美国国家航空航天局詹姆斯·韦布空间望远镜的新观测数据给出了这个问题的答案。新数据表明恒星爆炸的残余物是一颗中子星，它是一颗死亡恒星坍塌的核心，由宇宙中密度最大的物质构成。 

The discovery will confirm the theories of what [happens] to giant stars when they reach the end of their lives. That's important because supernovas are responsible for the spread of life-giving elements across the Universe, and the new data will help refine our understanding of how this happens. It will also give astronomers an opportunity to study a 'baby' neutron star and learn how they evolve over time. 

这一发现将证实巨星到达生命尽头时的最终归宿与现有理论相符。证实这一点很重要，因为超新星起到将支持生命必需的元素向宇宙空间扩散的作用，而新的数据将完善我们对这一过程的理解。新的数据还将为天文学家提供一个研究 “婴儿” 中子星的机会，并掌握它们随着时间的推移进行演变的方式。 

词汇表

supernova 超新星
debris 碎片，残骸
telescopes 望远镜
remnant 残余物
neutron star 中子星
collapsed core 坍塌的核心
densest 密度最大的
elements 元素
astronomers 天文学家
evolve 演变，演化