The universe becomes dimmer and dimmer, illuminated only by smaller red and white dwarfs.

宇宙会变得越来越暗淡，仅由较小的红星和星照亮（快烧尽的太阳灰渣）。

And in the center is a white dwarf.

中间是一颗星。

Or, it seems, when you're cruising past a white dwarf star.

或者可以说在你缓慢驶过一颗星时。

White dwarfs—the ultimate destiny of stars like the sun—maximize the pollution signal.

类似太阳一样终极命运的恒星星使得污染的信号最大化。

Smaller stars like the sun leave behind what are called white dwarves.

像太阳这样较小的恒星会留下星。

White Dwarf stars sometimes have other stars orbiting nearby.

星近有时候有别的恒星环绕。

Since white dwarfs are so tiny compared to your average star, they don't give off very much light, and continue to slowly get dimmer and colder over billions of years.

由于星与普通恒星相比太小了，它们不会发出太多的光，并且在数十亿的时间里继续慢慢变暗和变冷。

They'll have their moments though, because over trillions of years, binary white dwarf orbits will decay, and the stars will merge and explode as supernovae.

不过，它们也会有自己的高光时刻，因为在数万亿，星双星轨道会衰减，恒星会合并并爆炸，成为超新星。

And the Earth's hellish fate isn't over. As a red giant, the Sun will fluctuate in size before collapsing into a white dwarf.

地球的地狱般的命运还没有结束。作为一个红巨星，太阳在崩塌成星之前体积将会发生波动。

These are hundreds of tons per cubic-inch dense as all the mass is packed in a sphere of just 1000 of miles in diameter.

星的密度高达每立方英寸数百吨，因为所有的质量都聚集在一个直径只有1000英里的球体中。

Astronomers say a red giant's release of hydrogen in a binary system causes a heavy buildup of pressure and heat on the white dwarf.

天文学家表示，在双星系统中，红巨星释放出的氢会在星上造成巨大的压和热量积累。

But after eight billion years the sun will have finally become a White Dwarf star equal to fifty-four percent of its current mass.

但 80 亿，太阳最终会变成一颗星，其质量相当于目前太阳质量的 54%。

Except for a neutron stars and the white, brown, and black dwarves there are no more stars in the universe.

除了中子星和星、褐星和黑星外，宇宙中再也没有恒星了。

But if that planet circled a smaller star, like a white dwarf, it would block out enough light to be detectible.

但是如果这颗行星围绕星这种较小恒星旋转，那行星挡住的光线足以被探测到。

In other words, the white dwarf acts like a lens that makes the bigger star appear brighter during the eclipse.

换句话说，星充当了透射镜片的作用，使得在日食现象时较大的恒星候变得更加明亮。

Now researchers have identified rocky, asteroidlike material raining down on two white dwarfs.

如今，研究人员已经确定了如下雨般落在两颗星上的多岩石的、类似于小行星的物质。

A consequence of stuffing so much matter into so little space is that white dwarfs have powerful magnetic fields.

把如此之大的东西压缩到了这么小空间的结果是，星拥有强大的磁场。

That planet eating balloon deflates 9.5 billion years down the line, leaving a white dwarf in its place.

这个吃人气球将在95亿彻底收缩，留下一颗星。

One's a white dwarf-the corpse of something that used to be a star in the distant past.

一颗是星，即“远古时期某个恒星的尸体。

Now, it might be stable, orbiting in this way, for perhaps one or two hundred years.

这颗星可能就这样稳定环绕了一两百。