SSS 2011-06-24
时间：2018-12-24 作者：英语课 分类：Scientific American(六)月
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute.
In 1930 astronomer 1 Clyde Tombaugh discovered the dwarf 2 planet Pluto 3 while looking at photographs of the night sky. Pluto was the first object to be found in what's now known as the Kuiper Belt, a region that's also full of asteroids 4. NASA's New Horizons spacecraft intends to visit one or two of them after it flies past Pluto in 2015. But which ones?
That's where you come in. Because astronomers 5 are calling on citizen scientists to eyeball images that will help them find the outermost 6 icy bodies in Pluto's neighborhood. The project is described at the Web site icehunters.org
Some of the largest telescopes on Earth have helped produce millions of images of the relevant region of space. By comparing photos taken at different times, scientists can subtract out objects that appear stationary 7, like far-off galaxies 8, and focus on things that appear to be moving in orbits, like asteroids.
Now, these pictures can be a bit messy. So scientists say they could use plenty of eyes to help scan the pics for things that move—the same way Tombaugh first found Pluto. The winning object could become the most distant ever visited by a spacecraft from Earth. But you don't even have to get off the couch.
Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I'm Karen Hopkin.
- A new star attracted the notice of the astronomer.新发现的一颗星引起了那位天文学家的注意。
- He is reputed to have been a good astronomer.他以一个优秀的天文学者闻名于世。
- The dwarf's long arms were not proportional to his height.那侏儒的长臂与他的身高不成比例。
- The dwarf shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. 矮子耸耸肩膀，摇摇头。
- Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。
- Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。
- Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
- Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。
- 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》
- He fired and hit the outermost ring of the target.他开枪射中了靶子的最外一环。
- The outermost electron is shielded from the nucleus.原子核对最外层电子的作用受到屏蔽。
- A stationary object is easy to be aimed at.一个静止不动的物体是容易瞄准的。
- Wait until the bus is stationary before you get off.你要等公共汽车停稳了再下车。