Scientists have just seen the biggest star explosion observed to date.

科学家们刚刚观测到迄今为止最大的恒星爆炸。

Star explosions are often called supernovas.

恒星爆炸通常被称为超新星。

The supernova was up to 100 times larger than our sun and happened in a galaxy far away.

这颗超新星比我们的太阳大100倍，发生在一个遥远的星系中。

It released two times as much energy as any star explosion ever observed

它释放的能量是任何已经观测到的恒星爆炸释放能量的两倍，

and happened about 4.6 billion light years from Earth, scientists said.

发生在距离地球46亿光年的地方，科学家们说。

A light year is the distance light travels in one year, which is 9.5 trillion kilometers.

一光年是光在一年内走过的距离，即9.5万亿公里。

The scientists said this explosion might represent a kind of supernova that has only been known in theory until now.

科学家们说，这次爆炸可能是一种直到现在才在理论上为人所知的超新星。

Matt Nicholl is an astrophysicist with the University of Birmingham in England.

马特·尼科尔是英国伯明翰大学的天体物理学家。

He told Reuters news agency that two very large stars - each about 50 times the sun's mass - may have joined to make one huge star.

他对路透社说，两颗质量都是太阳的50倍的恒星可能会聚在一起形成一颗巨星。

He thinks this took place about 1,000 years before the explosion.

他认为这一聚合发生在爆炸前1000年左右。

The stars had been part of a binary system -- two stars pulled toward each other through gravity.

这些恒星曾经是一个双星系统——两颗恒星通过引力相互吸引的一部分。

The joined star exploded in a supernova that has been named SN2016aps.

这颗合并的恒星在一颗名为SN2016aps的超新星中爆炸。

"We found that the supernova was able to become so bright

“我们发现超新星之所以能够变得如此明亮

because of a powerful collision" between the matter thrown by the explosion and a shell of gas shaken off by the star a few years before,

是因为爆炸产生的物质与几年前恒星释放出的一层气体发生了强烈碰撞，”

Nicholl explained.

尼科尔解释说。

He is lead writer of the study published this week in the journal Nature Astronomy.

他是本周发表在《自然天文学》杂志上的这项研究的主要作者。

Stars die in many different ways, depending on their size and other properties.

恒星的消亡方式多种多样，取决于它们的大小和其他属性。

When a massive star - more than eight times the mass of our sun - uses up its fuel,

当一颗质量超过太阳8倍的大质量恒星消耗完它的能量，

it cools off and its center collapses.

它就会冷却下来，它的中心就会坍塌。

This launches shock waves that cause its outer layer to explode so violently that it can shine brighter than whole galaxies.

然后就会发射出冲击波，导致其外层猛烈爆炸，其亮度甚至比整个星系还要亮。

The researchers observed the explosion for two years until it lowered to one percent of its highest brightness.

研究人员对这次爆炸进行了两年的观测，直到它的亮度降低到最高亮度的1%。

They said it may have been an example of an extremely rare "pulsational pair-instability" supernova.

他们说，这可能是一个极其罕见的“脉冲对不稳定”的超新星的例子。

Peter Blanchard explains what that means.

彼得·布兰查德解释了这意味着什么。

He said pulsational pair-instability is when very large stars experience pulsations which throw material away from the star.

他说，脉动对不稳定性是指非常大的恒星经历了将物质从恒星中抛出的脉动。

Blanchard, who co-wrote the study,

布兰查德是这项研究的合著者，

is an astrophysicist at Northwestern University in Illinois.

也是伊利诺斯州西北大学的天体物理学家。

He said the discovery shows there are many new and exciting things that remain uncovered in the universe.

他说，这一发现表明，宇宙中还有许多令人兴奋的新事物没有被发现。

Very massive stars like this one were probably more common early in the universe's history, Nicholl said.

尼科尔说，像这样的大质量恒星在宇宙早期历史中可能更常见。

"The nature of those first stars is one of the big questions in astronomy," Nicholl added.

“第一批恒星的性质是天文学中的一个大问题，”尼科尔补充道。

"Seeing things further away means looking back further and further in time.

“把事情看得越远，就意味着在时间上回首看得越来越远。

So we might actually be able to see the very first stars if they explode in a similar manner to this one.

因此，如果第一批恒星以类似于这颗恒星的方式爆炸，那么我们可能真的能够看到它们。

Now we know what to look for."

现在我们知道应该往哪个方向探索了。”

I'm Alice Bryant.

爱丽丝·布莱恩特报道。