Astronomers Use 'Galactic Archaeology' to Map History of Distant Galaxy
天文學家利用「星系考古學」繪製遙遠星系的歷史圖譜
Astronomers are now doing exactly this through a field called galactic archaeology.
天文學家現在正透過一個稱為「星系考古學」(ㄒㄧㄥ ㄒㄧˊ ㄎㄠˇ ㄍㄨˇ ㄒㄩㄝˊ)的領域進行這項工作。
Much like anthropologists who study artifacts to understand past civilizations, astronomers use stars as cosmic fossils.
就像人類學家研究人工製品以了解過去的文明一樣，天文學家將恆星視為宇宙化石。
Historically, this method was limited to our own Milky Way.
從歷史上看，這種方法僅限於我們自己的銀河系。
Researchers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian have applied these techniques to a distant galaxy named NGC 1365.
哈佛與史密松天體物理中心的研究人員已將這些技術應用於一個名為 NGC 1365 的遙遠星系。
By measuring oxygen levels in cosmic gas, they discovered that NGC 1365 began as a small galaxy 12 billion years ago, gradually growing through mergers with smaller dwarf galaxies.
透過測量宇宙氣體中的氧含量，他們發現 NGC 1365 在 120 億年前是一個小型星系，隨著時間推移，透過與較小的矮星系合併而逐漸成長。
This shift to extragalactic archaeology allows scientists to study galaxies far beyond our own, turning them from static images into dynamic, evolving histories.
這種向「河外考古學」(ㄏㄜˊ ㄨㄞˋ ㄎㄠˇ ㄍㄨˇ ㄒㄩㄝˊ)的轉變，使科學家能夠研究遠在我們星系之外的星系，將它們從靜態圖像轉變為動態演化的歷史。
It also provides vital context for the Milky Way, helping us determine if our own galactic home is typical or truly unique in the vast expanse of the universe.
同時，這也為銀河系的研究提供了重要的背景資訊，幫助我們判定自己的銀河家園在廣袤的宇宙中是典型的，還是獨一無二的。
