美国国家公共电台 NPR A Friend For Pluto: Astronomers Find New Dwarf Planet In Our Solar System

A Friend For Pluto¹: Astronomers³ Find New Dwarf⁴ Planet In Our Solar System 

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Scientists in Michigan have found a new dwarf planet in our solar system. The way it was found is quite unusual, and the researchers hope their technique will help in the search for an even more impressive object - a giant planet astronomers believe is lurking⁶ in the outer reaches of our solar system. NPR's Joe Palca has this story about the big idea that may lead to finding what astronomers are calling Planet Nine.

JOE PALCA, BYLINE⁷: Some researchers have devoted⁸ their lives to finding new objects in the solar system - not David Gerdes.

DAVID GERDES: I came to planet hunting not only - not as a planet hunter, but I'm actually an adult-onset astronomer².

PALCA: Gerdes started out as a particle physicist⁹. Then he turned to cosmology and got involved in an effort to make a map of distant galaxies¹⁰. This has involved taking tens of thousands of pictures of the night sky. A couple years ago, Gerdes had some undergraduates visiting him for the summer, and he said to them, just for fun, let's see if we can find some solar system objects in our images. So how do you find solar system objects in pictures taken of the sky looking for galaxies? Well, you look for things that move.

GERDES: Objects in the solar system, when you observe them at one instant and then a little while later, they appear to be in a different place in the sky.

PALCA: Stars and galaxies are so far away they're basically stationary¹¹. But a planet or asteroid¹² will be in a slightly different position from night to night. It will appear as a dot of light that seems to be moving across the stationary backdrop of stars. Connect the dots night after night and you can begin to calculate the object's orbit around the sun. But the images Gerdes had weren't taken night after night.

GERDES: We often just have a single observation of the thing on one night, and then two weeks later, one observation and then five nights later, another observation, and four months later, another observation. So the connecting-the-dots problem is much more challenging.

PALCA: But they were able to develop software that can do just that. I met with Gerdes and some of his student collaborators in a conference room on the University of Michigan campus last month. He told me about one of the more interesting objects they've fished out of their images - a new dwarf planet that's really, really far away, nearly 100 times farther from the sun than the Earth is. And it takes more than a thousand years to complete a single orbit.

GERDES: We think this object could be about a thousand kilometers in diameter - not Pluto-sized but still one of the larger minor¹³ bodies in the solar system.

PALCA: Since we spoke¹⁴ last month, Gerdes now has additional data showing the object is closer to 500 kilometers in diameter, but that's still a big chunk¹⁵ of rock. Now, this new dwarf planet is pretty exciting if you're into dwarf planets, but there's a much bigger prize astronomers are searching for. They think there's a planet ten times more massive than the Earth hiding in the outer reaches of the solar system. A scientific paper earlier this year described the orbit of this so-called Planet Nine, and since then, astronomers have been scouring¹⁶ the parts of the sky where the orbit says Planet Nine might be. So far, no one's seen it. David Gerdes says it's quite possible that one of the images taken for his galaxy¹⁷ map may actually contain a picture of it.

GERDES: I'm excited about our chances of finding it.

PALCA: When you say our, you mean yours or you mean our as in us planet Earth people?

GERDES: I'm excited about the chances of the people in this room finding it. Of course, I'm happy for humanity if someone else finds it. It would be the most exciting astronomical¹⁸ discovery in our lifetime I think.

PALCA: No luck so far, but as David Gerdes says...

GERDES: The hunt is on.

PALCA: Joe Palca, NPR News.

1 Pluto   

n.冥王星

参考例句：

• 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。

2 astronomer   

n.天文学家

参考例句：

• 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。

3 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 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》

4 dwarf   

n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小

参考例句：

• 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。

5 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

6 lurking   

潜在

参考例句：

• Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的，想干什么？
• There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

9 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

10 galaxies   

星系( galaxy的名词复数 )； 银河系； 一群（杰出或著名的人物）

参考例句：

• Quasars are the highly energetic cores of distant galaxies. 类星体是遥远星系的极为活跃的核心体。
• We still don't know how many galaxies there are in the universe. 我们还不知道宇宙中有多少个星系。

11 stationary   

adj.固定的，静止不动的

参考例句：

• 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。

12 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

13 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

14 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

15 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

16 scouring   

擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤

参考例句：

• The police are scouring the countryside for the escaped prisoners. 警察正在搜索整个乡村以捉拿逃犯。
• This is called the scouring train in wool processing. 这被称为羊毛加工中的洗涤系列。

17 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• 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。

18 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。