考研英语同源阅览科学家发现首颗有水存在的系外宜居行星_The(考研英语同源阅读)

布景介绍

众所周知，水是生命之源。人类对太空系外行星的探究现已稀有百年的前史了，地舆学家们现已发现了许多可以适诱人类生计的系外行星，但却一向未发现液态水的存在。如今，地舆学家们总算发现了首颗有水存在的系外宜居行星，太空移民或指日可下。

the first planet beyond the solar system confirmed to have water

太阳系外首颗被证明有水存在的行星

since its discovery by astronomers in 2015, the exoplanet k2-18b has elicited much excitement.

自从2015年地舆学家发现了k2-18b以来，这颗系外行星就让许多人为之振奋。

swirling around a red-dwarf star about 110 light-years away from earth, the distant world sits in a so-called goldilocks zone—not close enough to its host star to be too hot and not far enough away to be too cold—that could allow liquid water to flow across its surface. that is a crucial condition for life as we know it.

这颗悠远的行星环绕着一颗距地球约110光年的红矮星旋转，它处于该星系所谓的“宜居带”上（间隔其恒星不算太近，因而不会太热；也不算太远，因而不会太冷），这使其表面有了存在液态水的可以。众所周知，水是孕育生命的要害条件。

now astronomers have cranked up the speculation. follow-up images taken by the hubble space telescope suggest k2-18b has an atmosphere containing large amounts of water vapour—the first exoplanet in a habitable zone to have this confirmed.

如今，地舆学家们初步进行更斗胆的估测了。哈勃太空望远镜所拍照的后续图像闪现，k2-18b的大气层中富含许多的水蒸气——这是首颗被证明有水存在的处于宜居带上的系外行星。

most exoplanets previously found with atmospheres have been gas giants, similar to neptune or jupiter. k2-18b instead looks like it could be a rocky planet twice as big as earth, perhaps covered in vast ice-covered seas.

早年发现的大大都有大气层的系外行星都是类似于海王星或木星的气态巨行星。而k2-18b看起来像是一颗地球两倍巨细的岩质行星，其表面可以被广大的冰雪海洋所掩盖。

writing this week in nature astronomy, dr tsiaras describes how his team wrote software that could analyse the data collected by hubble to try to do the same job—up to a point. they were not able to pinpoint the exact form and amounts of the water they found.

席亚拉博士本周宣告在《天然地舆学》杂志上的文章描绘了他的团队如何编写软件对哈勃望远镜所搜集的数据进行分析的，使用软件在必定程度上结束重复性的作业。他们无法得出所发现的水的切当形状和含量。

instead they used computer models to simulate the most likely scenarios, and concluded that as much as half of the atmosphere of k2-18b could be water vapour. they also found evidence of large amounts of hydrogen and helium gas.

所以，他们使用核算机模型来仿照最有可以的情况，究竟得出结论：k2-18b大气中高达一半的成分是水蒸气。此外，他们还发现了存在许多氢气和氦气的根据。

this is just the start of such study of planets beyond our solar system. astronomers plan to launch two new orbiting telescopes in the next decade—the american james webb space telescope and the european ariel survey—that will be powerful enough to peer into the atmospheres of exoplanets more closely. powerful enough, perhaps, t

o detect telltale molecular signatures of life.

这只是对太阳系外行星探究的初步。地舆学家方案在将来十年发射两架新的轨迹望远镜（美国的詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜和欧洲的阿里尔太空望远镜），这两架望远镜足以让我们更近间隔地调查系外行星的大气层。它们说不定健壮到足以勘探生命的分子特征。

with dr tsiaras’s analysis, k2-18b is now the best candidate for a life-supporting exoplanet out there. the temperature on the surface could be about the same as earth and there could be similar clouds hanging in the sky.

据席亚拉博士分析，k2-18b当前是适合生命生计的系外行星的最佳候选者。其表面温度可以和地球差不多，天空上可以也有类似的云。

however, the planet’s adjacency to the star—it whizzes around once every 33 days—could produce intense space weather from the stellar activity. and it would be advisable to pack sun cream: the ultraviolet radiation would be off the scale.

可是，因为它离恒星比照近（每33天绕恒星一圈），可以会因为恒星活动而致使激烈的空间气候。此外，假定前去最佳把防晒霜带上，那儿的紫外线辐射可以会超标！

(赤色标示词为重难点词汇)

重难点词汇：

pinpoint [?p?np??nt] vt. 查明；精确描绘 adj. 精确的；详尽的 n. 针尖；精确方位；极小之物

telltale [?telte?l] adj. 报警的；泄密的；搬弄对错的 n. 痕迹；指示器；搬弄对错者

adjacency [?’d?esnsi] n. 毗连；邻近；邻接

这篇文章翻译：vinnie

校核：vinnie

修改：vinnie

修改说

自从1609年伽利略创造了第一架太空望远镜，人类初步了对世界太空的探究。而1990年送上太空的哈勃空间望远镜让人类得以对太空进行更深化的探究。如今，经过地舆学家的不断尽力，咱们总算发现了首颗有水存在的系外宜居行星，间隔人类的星际移民又迈出了一步。

来历:每日双语经济学人

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