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To see a star in action,
观测一颗活跃的恒星
let's imagine I can split one in half.
让我们设想可将其分成两半
Just as in the soccer ball star,
如那颗足球大的恒星
the hydrogen atoms are fusing together, creating helium,
氢聚合成氦
which produces the star's energy.
产生了恒星释放的能量
But helium is slightly heavier than hydrogen,
然而氦比氢略重
so it sinks to the center of the star.
因此会下沉到恒星中心
And now the helium atoms take center stage.
现在氦原子占据中心位置
As they fuse together, they produce even more energy,
更多能量伴随它们的聚合而产生
and form yet another new element,
形成另一种新元素
carbon,
碳
a vital building block of every living thing.
所有生命必不可少的组成部分
The process repeats itself over and over
该过程循环往复
and the star becomes layered, like an onion,
星体开始分层，像洋葱一样
a really big onion.
像巨大的洋葱
The closer to the center, the heavier the elements,
距离中心越近，元素质量越重
like neon, oxygen, and last of all iron.
比如氖，氧,最后是铁
Now things change.
现在事情发生了变化
Iron doesn't produce energy when it fuses, so the fire begins to go out.
铁在聚合时不产生能量，因此燃烧开始停止
More and more iron builds up in the star's core
越来越多的铁集聚于恒星内核
until almost all the remaining fuel runs out.
直至剩余燃料耗尽
Now gravity takes over and squashes the star in on itself.
接着万有引力开始作用，挤压恒星自身
As its core gets more and more compressed,
随着恒星的内核越来越紧密
its temperature soars until it's over 100 times hotter than the core of our own sun.
其温度涨至超过太阳内核一百余倍
Finally the star collapses and explodes.
最终恒星塌陷并发生爆炸
This is a supernova.
这就是超新星爆炸
