Farthest Supernova

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47 天文学家发现一颗距离地球最远的超新星

DATE=5-9-01
TITLE=SCIENCE REPORT - Farthest Supernova
BYLINE=Jill Moss¹

(Start at 59")This is the VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT.
American （1）astronomers² recently discovered a star explosion more than ten- thousand- million light years away.  A light year is the distance light travels in one year.  The researchers say this is the oldest star explosion, or （2）supernova, ever discovered.  It is also the farthest supernova from Earth.  It is one-and-one-half times farther away than any supernova ever before seen. 
Adam Riess (REESE) has led efforts to study the supernova.  He works at the Space Telescope Science （3）Institute in （4）Baltimore, Maryland.  Mister Riess says the supernova provides important information about the history of the （5）universe.
Astronomers believe the universe was created from an （6）explosion of matter called the Big Bang.  They believe this happened about thirteen- thousand- million years ago.  Mister Riess says the supernova exploded when the universe was young, a few thousand- million years after the Big Bang.  
For many years, astronomers have （7）struggled with a problem.  They know that the force of gravity should pull objects in the universe together.  However, observations show that the universe is expanding.  Mister Riess says the expansion of the universe is now speeding up. Scientists believe that （8）gravity once controlled the expansion. But now researchers say a mysterious "dark energy," or negative gravity, is controlling how fast the universe expands.  While gravity usually holds objects together, negative gravity forces them apart.
One way astronomers have studied this problem is by comparing pictures of supernovas taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.  Scientists are able to find out how far some supernovas are from Earth.  They do this by （9）measuring the brightness³ of light released by one kind of supernova.  In this case, the supernova was brighter than expected.  This meant that it was also closer than expected. Astronomers who study the expansion of the universe believe this is because in its early history, the universe expanded more slowly than scientists first believed. 
 Some astronomers are calling this supernova a very important discovery.  However, scientists say they will have to discover many more supernovas so that questions about dark energy and the （10）expansion of the universe can be answered. In fact, to prove their theory, astronomers must find a supernova even farther than the one Mister Riess is studying. 
This VOA Special English Science Report was written by Jill Moss.

注释：
（1） astronomer[E5strRnEmE(r)]n.天文学家
（2） supernova[ 7sju:pE5nEuvE ]n.[天]超新星
（3） institute[ 5institju:t ]n.学会, 学院v.创立, 开始, 制定
（4） Baltimore[ 5bC:ltimC: ]n.巴尔的摩, 美国马里兰州城市
（5） universe[ 5ju:nivE:s ]n.宇宙, 世界
（6） explosion[ iks5plEuVEn ]n.爆发, 发出
（7） struggle[ 5strQ^l ]n.竞争, 努力, 奋斗vi.努力, 奋斗
（8） gravity[ 5^rAviti ]n.地心引力, 重力
（9） measuring[ 5meVEriN ]v.测量
（10） expansion[ iks5pAnFEn ]n.扩充, 开展

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 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》

3 brightness   

n.明亮，亮度，聪颖，光泽度，灯火通明

参考例句：

• The brightness of the paint has worn off a little.油漆的光泽有些磨损了。
• Her eyes squinted against the brightness.亮光刺得她眯起眼睛。