VOA常速英语2015--墨西哥建造伽马射线天文台即将开放（在线收听）

Gamma Ray Observatory to Open Soon in Mexico 墨西哥建造伽马射线天文台即将开放

American and Mexican scientists have completed construction of the world's largest gamma ray observatory, situated high in central Mexico’s Sierra Negra Mountain. The observatory's huge array of water-based detectors will soon start discovering secrets about black holes and supernovas.

Extreme cosmic events, such as explosions of stars, pulsars or black holes, emit huge bursts of highly-charged particles, called gamma rays, that under certain circumstances can travel faster than the speed of light.

恒星,脉冲星或黑洞爆炸等的极端宇宙活动会释放名为伽马射线的巨大高能粒子,在某些情况它甚至能超越光速。

Scientists say the rays are so powerful that some of them can be detected coming from distances up to 10 billion light years away.

科学家们表示这种射线如此强大,以致于其中一些来自于100年亿光年之远的射线都可以被探测到。

Jordan Goodman, a physics professor at the University of Maryland, said, “They are [the] highest-energy light so they let us understand where the highest energy particles in the universe come from. So our idea is to build this observatory to give us a wide field view of the sky at the highest energies.”

马里兰大学的物理学教授约旦·古德曼说道。“伽马射线是光的最高能量形式，因此通过它们我们了解到宇宙中最高能量粒子从何而来。所以我们有了建造这个天文台的想法，这会为我们探寻最高能量提供最为广阔的舞台。”

Cosmic glow

When cosmic gamma rays hit a medium like water, they create a soft bluish glow called Cherenkov electromagnetic radiation, a glow that can also be seen at the cores of nuclear reactors.

当宇宙伽马射线通过像水等的媒介时,它们会有一种名为切伦科夫电磁辐射的蓝色辉光，而这种蓝色辉光还可以在核反应堆的核心部分中看到。

Three hundred tightly-sealed water tanks at the High Altitude Water Cherenkov Experiment observatory, or HAWC for short, also contain sensors that detect and record Cherenkov radiation.

HAWC，即高海拔切伦科夫实验观测站中除了300个密封水箱外，也包含用于检测及记录的切伦科夫辐射传感器。

By measuring the angle and intensity at which gamma rays hit the sensors, scientists can calculate where they came from.

通过对伽马射线通过传感器的角度和强度进行测量, 科学家们可以计算出这些射线来自何方。

Volcanic site

Goodman said along with studying deep space, the new observatory also can study our own star.

古德曼表示随着外层空间的研究,这座新天文台还可以帮助我们研究自己的恒星。

“This technique is unusual because someone yesterday, at the conference we had, said, 'you know, we should look at gamma rays from the sun, very high energy.' No one who does a telescope can look at the sun but we can look at the sun because we don't use the daylight, we use the gamma rays,” said Goodman.

“这种技术非比寻常,因为昨天有人在我们的会议上谈到，你知道,我们应该观测来自太阳,具有非常高能量的的伽马射线。没有人用望远镜就可以观测太阳，但我们可以,因为我们不使用日光,我们使用伽马射线。”

The site, at the bottom of an extinct volcano in central Mexico, was chosen for its favorable climate conditions.

而位于底部的一座墨西哥中部的死火山成为天文台选址的有利气候条件。

After 10 years it will be dismantled and the site's environment will be returned to its original condition.  

这座天文台的有效期限为10年而到那时环境将会回到原来的状态。