美国国家公共电台 NPR Juno Spacecraft Reveals Spectacular Cyclones At Jupiter's Poles

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

There are cyclones¹ at the poles of Jupiter. That's one of the surprises that NASA is reporting today. The space agency's Juno probe has been orbiting the gas giant since last summer. It's completed six revolutions of the planet so far. NPR science correspondent Joe Palca reports on the illuminating² and confusing new findings.

JOE PALCA, BYLINE³: Planetary scientist Fran Bagenal doesn't mince⁴ words. She says the data coming back from Juno are fabulous⁵.

FRAN BAGENAL: And they're fabulous because they're not what we expected.

PALCA: And what exactly does she mean by that?

BAGENAL: If we just saw what we expected it would be ho-hum (ph), ho-hum, that's good. But seeing puzzles and mysteries and getting us all wondering what we're seeing is more exciting.

PALCA: Now, some of those puzzles and mysteries are mostly of interest to scientists like Bagenal who have spent their professional lives studying Jupiter. For example, there are spectacular auroras at the poles of Jupiter much more dazzling than the northern lights of Earth. These auroras are caused by energetic particles. Bagenal says there should be strong electrical currents associated with all those particles.

BAGENAL: But we haven't detected the magnetic field perturbation associated with them.

PALCA: I'm taking her word that that's a surprise. Another puzzle that Juno is supposed to help solve is whether Jupiter has a solid core under all that gas. Jonathan Lunine is a Juno scientist with Cornell University.

JONATHAN LUNINE: The early data are suggesting the presence of a core, but not a discrete⁶ core. It seems that it's fuzzy.

PALCA: Lunine says more data should help provide a more precise understanding than fuzzy. But Lunine says the most visually stunning⁷ discoveries from Juno are the giant cyclones at the poles. Ultimately, scientists will want to understand how these cyclones change over time and whether they form differently in the north and south poles.

LUNINE: But for now, just to sit back and stare at these images is just a delight to the eye.

PALCA: One of the images is on our website if you want to check it out. And details about the scientific results can be found in the journals Science and Geophysical Research Letters. Joe Palca, NPR News.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF EMANONS' "CALYPSO BOP")

1 cyclones   

n.气旋( cyclone的名词复数 )；旋风；飓风；暴风

参考例句：

• The pricipal objective in designing cyclones is to create a vortex. 设计旋风除尘器的主要目的在于造成涡旋运动。 来自辞典例句
• Middle-latitude cyclones originate at the popar front. 中纬度地区的气旋发源于极锋。 来自辞典例句

2 illuminating   

a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的

参考例句：

• We didn't find the examples he used particularly illuminating. 我们觉得他采用的那些例证启发性不是特别大。
• I found his talk most illuminating. 我觉得他的话很有启发性。

3 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。

4 mince   

n.切碎物；v.切碎，矫揉做作地说

参考例句：

• Would you like me to mince the meat for you?你要我替你把肉切碎吗？
• Don't mince matters,but speak plainly.不要含糊其词，有话就直说吧。

5 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

6 discrete   

adj.个别的，分离的，不连续的

参考例句：

• The picture consists of a lot of discrete spots of colour.这幅画由许多不相连的色点组成。
• Most staple fibers are discrete,individual entities.大多数短纤维是不联系的单独实体。

7 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。