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Ten light years from Earth, the star Epsilon Eridani
天苑四恒星距离地球10光年
Spectacular rings of dust and ice
它有由尘埃和冰构成的壮观圆环
And somewhere in there, planets forming out of debris
在圆环里的某些地方，有碎片形成的行星
being born before our eyes.
就在我们眼前诞生
Asteroids and comets everywhere
到处都是小行星和彗星
We could almost be looking at our own solar system
我们几乎就是看到了数十亿年前的
billions of years ago.
我们太阳系的样子
With comets delivering the building blocks of life
彗星把生命材料带到
to these young planets.
这些年轻的行星上
At the center of all the action, a star smaller than our sun
主导这些行为的是一个比我们太阳小一些的恒星
still in its infancy.
这颗恒星还处于幼年
Any life in this solar system would be primitive at best
这个太阳系的生命应该还很原始
There must be more mature solar systems out here
这里应该还有更成熟更进化的太阳系
But finding them is like looking for a needle in a cosmic haystack
但是找到它们却像在宇宙海洋里捞针
Twenty light years from Earth.
距离地球20光年
Star Gliese 581
红矮星格雷司 581
It's about the same age as our sun.
它大概和我们的太阳同龄
This planet is just the right distance from its sun
这颗行星距离它的太阳距离刚刚好
Any closer and water would boil away, any further and it would freeze
再近一点水会蒸发，再远一点则会结成冰
Ideal conditions for life to emerge
一个生命演化的理想环境
And if a comet has struck, delivering water and organic materials
如果彗星的撞击给它带去水和有机原料
then life, complex beings like us, even civilizations like our own
那么生命、像我们一样的复杂生物，甚至像我们一样的文明
could be down there right now
现在就可能在这里存在
They could be tuning into our TV signals
他们可能正调到我们的电视信号
watching shows from 20 years ago.
观看我们20年前的电视节目
But until we devise a way of communicating
但是在我们找到跨越这么远距离的
over these vast distances, all we can do is speculate
通讯方法之前，我们只能猜测
Us and them, living parallel lives
我们和他们各自的生存着
unaware of each other's existence.
彼此都不知道对方的存在
Unless life has come and gone
除非这里曾有过生命和灭绝
