美国国家公共电台 NPR--Scientists are surprised to discover a massive gas cloud near the Andromeda galaxy

Scientists are surprised to discover a massive gas cloud near the Andromeda galaxy¹

Transcript²

Stumped³ astronomers⁵ are trying to get to the bottom of the origins of a huge cloud of gas, or nebula⁶, recently discovered floating near the Andromeda galaxy.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

The Andromeda Galaxy is one of the most photographed star systems in the universe, so astronomer⁴ Robert Fesen was puzzled when colleagues told him about a new photo that seemed to show a massive gas cloud floating nearby.

ROBERT FESEN: And they returned a few weeks later saying, no, it's real. I still didn't believe it.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

To double check, Mr. Fesen enlisted⁷ help from an amateur astrophotographer.

FESEN: He came back a few days later saying, it's actually real. It's extremely faint, but it's definitely real.

INSKEEP: That photographer, Bray⁸ Falls, says some of the world's biggest telescopes failed to catch this new feature because their lenses were trained on smaller objects.

BRAY FALLS: The reason the professionals didn't notice this is basically because it's too big. All the professional observatories⁹ have much greater focal length, so they're looking at very narrow fields of view to get lots of resolution. And so they straight up just missed it.

MART?NEZ: The new gas cloud, or nebula, has been named Strottner-Drechsler-Sainty Object 1 or, for short, SDSO-1.

INSKEEP: This is amazing. They didn't see the forest for the trees or didn't see the gas cloud for the something else. I don't know. Anyway, researchers want to know where SDSO-1 came from. And Fesen, who teaches at Dartmouth, is helping¹⁰ to find answers.

FESEN: It's a remarkably¹¹ large nebulosity to be undetected for all this time up till now.

MART?NEZ: Fesen and other scientists will keep on looking, and Falls will keep on taking pictures.

FALLS: There is kind of, like, a golden age coming up in terms of planetary nebula discovery and all kinds of nebula discovery that's possible by amateurs. And this is - it's kind of like the start timer in, like, a race to find things, is what this signifies for me.

1 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。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 stumped   

僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说

参考例句：

• Jack huffed himself up and stumped out of the room. 杰克气喘吁吁地干完活，然后很艰难地走出房间。
• He was stumped by the questions and remained tongue-tied for a good while. 他被问得张口结舌，半天说不出话来。

4 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。

5 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》

6 nebula   

n.星云，喷雾剂

参考例句：

• A powerful telescope can resolve a nebula into stars.一架高性能的望远镜能从星云中分辨出星球来。
• A nebula is really a discrete mass of innumerous stars.一团星云实际上是无数星体不连续的集合体。

7 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 bray   

n.驴叫声, 喇叭声；v.驴叫

参考例句：

• She cut him off with a wild bray of laughter.她用刺耳的狂笑打断了他的讲话。
• The donkey brayed and tried to bolt.这头驴嘶叫着试图脱缰而逃。

9 observatories   

n.天文台，气象台( observatory的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• John Heilbron, The Sun in the Church: Cathedrals as Solar Observatories, 3-23. 约翰．海耳布隆，《教会里的太阳：教堂即太阳观测台》，第3-23页。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists use satellites, land observatories and historical data to provide information about the weather. 气象学家使用卫星、上天文台和历史资料来提供有关天气的信息。 来自互联网

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

11 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。