Planets like our Earth could form even in the harshest known star-forming environments, drenched by hard UV light from massive stars. That is a main result of analyses of new observations of such an environment with the James Webb Space Telescope.
像地球的行星甚至可能形成於，遭來自大質量恆星強烈紫外線照射之已知最嚴酷、形成恆星的環境中。那是此類環境，使用詹姆斯韋伯太空望遠鏡之諸多新觀察，分析的一項主要結果。
The observations are the first of their kind – before James Webb, this kind of detailed observation had not been possible. This is good news for Earth-like planets, and for life in the universe: there is a great variety of environments in which such planets can form.
此些是這類的首次觀察。在詹姆斯韋伯之前，此類詳細的觀察一直是不可能的。就類地行星及宇宙中的生命而言，這是個好消息：有種類繁多的環境，於其中能形成這種行星。
Water and carbon-bearing molecules have been discovered in a disk of gas and dust surrounding a young solar-type star, which is located in one of the most extreme environments in our Galaxy. Such disks are where planets form around nascent stars.
在圍繞一顆，年輕太陽型恆星(座落於咱們銀河系最極端環境之一)的氣體及塵埃盤中，已經發現了水及具有碳的分子。這種氣體、塵埃盤是行星，於初期恆星周遭，形成的地方。
A team of astronomers led by María C. Ramírez-Tannus at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy made use of the James Webb Space Telescope to peer into the inner region of the disk, which is where planets similar to our Earth are expected to form: so-called terrestrial planets, with a thin atmosphere covering a planet made of rock.
一支由德國馬克斯普朗克天文學研究所，María C. Ramírez-Tannus領導的天文學家團隊，利用了詹姆斯韋伯太空望遠鏡，來觀察該被預期，形成類似咱們地球之氣體、塵埃盤的內部區域：所謂的類地球行星，具有覆蓋由岩石構成之行星的稀薄大氣層。
The disk, which the astronomers call XUE-1, is exposed to intense ultraviolet radiation of nearby hot, massive stars. Yet even in this harsh environment, the observations detected both water and simple organic molecules.
該此些天文學家稱為極端紫外線環境-1(XUE-1：eXtreme UV Environments)的氣體、塵埃盤，暴露於鄰近熾熱、大質量恆星的強烈紫外線輻射中。然而，即使在此嚴酷環境中，此些觀察結果也發現了，水及簡單的有機分子。
Ramírez-Tannus says: “This result is unexpected and exciting! It shows that there are favourable conditions to form Earth-like planets and the ingredients for life even in the harshest environments in our Galaxy.”
Ramírez-Tannus宣稱：「此結果是意想不到，且令人興奮的！這顯示，即使在銀河系最嚴酷的環境中，也有形成類球地行星的有利條件及生命的構成要素。」
The new observations are the first of their kind. Until now, nothing was known about the effects of such inhospitable environments on the inner regions of discs, where terrestrial planets are likely to form. Previous detailed observations of planet-forming disks had been limited to nearby star-formation regions, where these disks are easier to observe but where massive stars do not exist.
此些新的觀察結果，是這種觀察的首批結果。到目前為止，有關在類球地行星可能形成之氣體、塵埃盤內部區域，這種不適合居住之環境的影響，人們一無所知。
Massive star-forming regions are completely different: there, numerous stars form at roughly the same time, including some of the rare, but extremely powerful very massive stars. During the ‘golden age’ of star formation in the universe, around 10 billion years ago, most star formation took place in such massive clusters.
巨大之形成恆星的區域完全不同：在那裡，諸多恆星幾乎同時形成，包括一些罕見、卻極度強大的超大質量恆星。在大約1百億年前，恆星於宇宙中形成的“黃金時期”裡，大多數恆星的形成，發生於這種巨大星團中。
Overall, more than half of all stars in our universe – including our own Sun – were born in massive star-forming regions, together with their planets. In the present-day universe, massive star-forming regions are rare, and even the nearest ones are far away.
總體而言，於咱們宇宙中，所有恆星超過半數(包括咱們自己的太陽)及其行星，皆誕生於巨大之形成恆星的區域。
Massive stars are perforce very bright, giving off large amounts of high-energy UV radiation. Their presence causes considerable disruption in their vicinity. It was an open question whether that disruption would routinely interfere with the formation of planets like Earth around stars similar the Sun – which would relegate Earth-like planets to the sidelines in such massive clusters, not impossible to form, but very rare.
大質量恆星必然非常明亮，發出大量的高能量紫外線輻射。他們的存在，於鄰近地區造成了相當大的混亂。這是一項未解決的問題，是否那種混亂會普遍干擾，在這種巨大星團中，會將類球地行星逐到外圍之類似太陽恆星的周圍中，並無不可能形成，卻非常罕見、像地球之行星的形成。
There were plausible arguments that this could be the case. For instance, UV radiation from the massive stars disperses the gas in the outer disk portions, which inhibits the growth and the inward drift of dust particles that are the building blocks of Earth-like planets (and also of the cores of giant planet like Jupiter or Saturn). This might well stack the odds against the formation of Earth-like planets.
有諸多，這可能是此情況之似合理的論點。譬如，來自大質量恆星的紫外線輻射消散了，於氣體、塵埃盤，抑制類地球行星(也是木星或土星等，巨行星核心)構材的塵埃顆粒，擴張及向內漂移之外盤部分中的氣體。這很可能累積了，形成類地球行星的可能性。
This changed with the advent of the James Webb Space Telescope. When the telescope became available for science observations, Ramírez-Tannus and the XUE (eXtreme UV environments) collaboration, successfully applied to observe NGC 6357. At a distance of 5500 light-years from Earth, this is one of the nearest massive star-forming regions.
這隨著詹姆斯韋伯太空望遠鏡的到來，發生了變化。當該望遠鏡可資用於科學觀察時，Ramírez-Tannus與極端紫外線環境(XUE：eXtreme UV environments)的共同研究團隊，成功應用來觀察，距離地球5千5百光年，是最靠近巨大之形成恆星之一，也被稱為龍蝦星雲的NGC 6357瀰漫星雲。
It is also the most promising observational target to answer how strong UV radiation affects the inner regions of a planet-forming disc: because NGC 6357 contains about a dozen luminous, massive stars, in addition to some planet-forming discs observable with James Webb.
這也是最有指望回答強烈紫外線輻射，如何影響形成行星之氣體、塵埃盤內部區域的觀察標的：因為，除了使用詹姆斯韋伯太空望遠鏡可觀察之一些形成行星的氣體、塵埃盤之外，NGC 6357也具有大約十二顆明亮、大質量的恆星。
“If intense radiation hampers the conditions for planet formation in the inner regions of protoplanetary disks, NGC 6357 is where we should see the effect.”, says Arjan Bik from Stockholm University.
來自瑞典斯德哥爾摩大學的Arjan Bik宣稱：「倘若強烈的輻射阻礙了，原行星盤內部區域，形成行星的條件，則NGC 6357是我們可能瞭解此影響的地方。」
The observations the astronomers performed record spectra: rainbow-like decompositions of light that allow estimates of the presence of specific molecules in the observed region.
此些天文學家進行的這些觀察，記錄了光譜：也就是得以估計，於觀察區域中，特定分子存在之彩虹般的光分解。
To their surprise, Ramírez-Tannus and her colleagues found that, when it comes to the presence (and properties) of key molecules, at least one of the inner disks in NGC 6357, namely XUE-1, is not fundamentally different from its counterparts in low-mass star-formation regions.
令他們驚訝的是，Ramírez-Tannus及其同僚們發現，當談及關鍵分子的存在(及屬性)時，於NGC 6357中，至少諸多內盤之一，即XUE-1，並非完全不同於，在低質量之形成恆星區域的對應物。
“We found an abundance of water, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen cyanide and acetylene in the innermost regions of XUE-1” says Ramírez-Tannus. “This provides valuable clues about the likely composition of the initial atmosphere of the resulting terrestrial planets.”
Ramírez-Tannus宣稱：「在XUE-1的最內部區域，我們發現了大量的水、一氧化碳、二氧化碳、氰化氫及乙炔。這為從而產生，屬於類球地行星之初始大氣的可能組成，提供了寶貴的線索。」
The researchers also found silicate dust in similar amounts as in low-mass star-formation regions. This is the first time that such molecules have been detected under extreme conditions like these.
此些研究人員也發現了，矽酸鹽塵埃的數量與在低質量之形成恆星區域的數量相似。這是首次，這種分子已經在像此些極端條件下被發現。
The observations are good news for Earth-like planets, and for life in the universe: Apparently, the inner regions of protoplanetary disks around sun-like stars located in some of the harshest star-forming environments are just as capable of forming Earth-like, rocky planets as their low-mass counterparts.
就類地球行星及宇宙中的生命而言，此些觀察結果是些好消息：顯然，圍繞座落於一些最嚴酷之形成恆星環境中，類太陽恆星周圍的原行星盤內部區域，正好與其低質量之對應區域一樣，能形成類地球、多岩石的行星。
They even provide for an abundance of water, a necessary ingredient for life as we know it. Whether or not this translates to a significantly large number of Earth-like planets born in such environments is not something the researchers can tell from looking at a single disk.
如同我們所知，此些行星甚至產生豐富的水，這是生命所需的一種要素。這能否意味著，顯著的大量類地球行星誕生於這種環境中，不是此些研究人員，從檢視單一氣體、塵埃盤，能斷言的事。
The XUE collaboration is taking their observations further: with a JWST survey of 14 additional disks in different parts of NGC 6357 that should go a long way towards settling that important question.
Ramírez-Tannus與極端紫外線環境(XUE：eXtreme UV environments)的共同研究團隊正在進一步研究，他們的觀察結果：包括JWST在NGC 6357不同區域，14處應該對解決那重要問題，很有助益之額外氣體、塵埃盤的勘察。
網址：https://www.mpg.de/21124740/1115-astr-earth-like-planets-150980-x?c=2249
翻譯：許東榮
文章定位：
