Researchers discover first planet orbiting two stars
英语课
WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- A team of researchers has discovered a planet that orbits around a pair of stars, the U.S. space agency NASA announced Thursday.
This is the first instance of astronomers 1 finding direct evidence of a so-called circumbinary planet. A few other planets have been suspected of orbiting around both members of a dual-star system, but the transits 3 of the circumbinary planet have never been detected previously 4.
The team, led by Laurance Doyle of the SETI Institute in California, used photometric data from the NASA Kepler space telescope, which monitors the brightness of 155,000 stars.
They found the binary 2 star system by detecting a system where the stars eclipsed each other from the perspective of the Kepler spacecraft. These stars have two eclipses: A primary eclipse when the larger star is partially 5 blocked by the smaller star and a secondary eclipse where the smaller star is fully 6 blocked by the larger star.
But the researchers also noticed other times when the brightness of the two stars dropped, even when they were not in an eclipse position. This pattern suggested that there was likely a third object involved. The fact that these so-called tertiary and quaternary eclipses recurred 7 after varying intervals 8 of time, and were of different depths, indicated that the stars were in different positions in their orbit at each instance. This result showed that the tertiary and quaternary eclipses were being caused by something circling both stars, and not an object circling one or the other star.
Measurements of the variations in the timing 9 of all four types of eclipses, resulting from the mutual 10 gravitational interactions of the two stars and the third body, demonstrated that the third object was, indeed, a planet. Their work indicates that the planet is less massive than Jupiter, possibly comparable in mass to Saturn 11, and that the larger of the two binary stars is smaller than our Sun.
Their findings will be published Friday in Science.
"This discovery confirms a new class of planetary systems that could harbor life," Kepler principal investigator 12 William Borucki said in a statement. "Given that most stars in our galaxy 13 are part of a binary system, this means the opportunities for life are much broader than if planets form only around single stars. This milestone 14 discovery confirms a theory that scientists have had for decades but could not prove until now."
n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )
- Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》
adj.二，双；二进制的；n.双(体)；联星
- Computers operate using binary numbers.计算机运行运用二进位制。
- Let us try converting the number itself to binary.我们试一试，把这个数本身变成二进制数。
通过（transit的复数形式）
- The anomalistic year is the time between successive transits of the Earth through the perihelion. 近点年是地球连续两次通过近日点之间的时间。
- Paradigm study gradually transits to exemplification study in civil society theory. 当前我国的市民社会理论正逐步从范式研究转向范例研究。
adv.以前，先前（地）
- The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
- Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。
adv.部分地，从某些方面讲
- The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
- The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。
adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地
- The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
- They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈
- Old memories constantly recurred to him. 往事经常浮现在他的脑海里。
- She always winced when he recurred to the subject of his poems. 每逢他一提到他的诗作的时候，她总是有点畏缩。
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息
- The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
- Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。
n.时间安排，时间选择
- The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
- The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。
adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的
- We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
- Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。
n.农神，土星
- Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。
- These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。
n.研究者，调查者，审查者
- He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
- The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。
n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)
- The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
- The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。
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