经济学人: 开普勒 R.I.P (1)

 　　It used to be that finding even one new planet was enough to make an astronomer's career. 曾经即便是找到一颗新卫星都足以成就一名天文学家的事业。

　　Uranus¹ was discovered in 1781 by William Herschel, who these days has, among other things, space telescopes, asteroids², schools and a street in Paris named in his honour. 威廉·赫舍尔于1781年发现天王星。如今，还有那些为了纪念他而以他的名字命名的太空望远镜、小行星、学校和巴黎街道。

　　Urbain le Verrier, who predicted the existence of Neptune³ in 1846, based on its gravitational influence on Uranus, 1946年，基于海王星对天王星的重力影响，奥本·勒维耶预言了海王星的存在。

　　has likewise given his name to craters⁴, asteroids and bits of the French capital. It is one of 72 engraved⁵ into the sides of the Eiffel tower. 同样也有以他名字为名的火山口和小行星。他的名字和其他71人的名字一同被刻在了法国埃菲尔铁塔的一侧。

　　These days, though, astronomers⁶ can do better. William Borucki has thousands to his name. 虽然，如今的天文学家可以做得更好。威廉·博鲁茨基有上千个属于他的荣誉。

　　He is the researcher who conceived of and ran Kepler, a planet-hunting space telescope that was launched in 2009. 他是一名研究人员，是开普勒的构想和运行者。行星探测太空望远镜开普勒于2009年发射。

　　On October 30th NASA announced that, after nearly a decade in space, Kepler had run out of fuel and would be retired⁷. 10月30日，开普勒在太空服役近十年之计，美国国家宇航局（NASA）宣布它的燃料已耗尽，并将退役。

　　Kepler has discovered around 2,600 exoplanets— those that orbit stars other than the sun. 开普勒发现了约2600颗外星行星—那些围绕恒星而非太阳运行的行星。

　　Another 3,000 candidates await confirmation⁸ from ground-based telescopes. The result has been a revolution in astronomy. 另外3000名候选者在等待着陆基望远镜的确认。这是天文学史上的一个革命性成果。

　　Its practitioners⁹ had long assumed that other stars were likely to have planets of their own. These days, they know that to be true. 其实践者一直都认为其他恒星可能拥有自己的行星。如今他们知道事实确实如此。

　　The first exoplanets were detected in 1992, thanks to the gravitational effect they had on the pulsar around which they orbited. 首批外星行星于1992年被探测出来，这多亏了它们对围绕在它们运转轨道周围的脉冲星的重力影响。

　　(A pulsar is the dead, ultra-dense remnant left over after a supernova.) A trickle¹⁰ of subsequent discoveries followed. （脉冲星是在超新星阶段后超高密度的死亡残余。）随后小发现接踵而来。

　　Kepler transformed that trickle into a flood. Yet it almost did not happen. Dr Borucki proposed the mission four times to NASA before it was accepted in 2001. 开普勒将细流转变成一次涌现。但它差一点就没能发生。博鲁茨基博士四次向NASA提议该望远镜，直到2001年NASA才同意。

　　Rather than look for stellar wobbles caused by a planet's gravity, he suggested monitoring a star's light itself— 他并没有建议寻找由一颗行星重力引起的恒星摇晃，而是提议监视恒星光线的本身—

　　looking for tiny dips in brightness as planets, if any, crossed in front of the stellar disc. 寻找当行星从星盘前边穿过时（如果有的话）亮度中的微小倾角。

　　It is a simple idea. But it required the construction of a light detector¹¹ 1,000 times more sensitive than anything that had been built before. 这是个简单的想法，但它对光探测器的要求非常高，其灵敏度需要是之前那些望远镜的1000倍之多。

1 Uranus   

n.天王星

参考例句：

• Uranus is unusual because it is tilted.天王星非常特殊，因为它是倾斜的。
• Uranus represents sudden change and rebellion.天王星代表突然性的改变和反叛。

2 asteroids   

n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 )；海盘车，海星

参考例句：

• Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
• Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。

3 Neptune   

n.海王星

参考例句：

• Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun.海王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Neptune turned out to be a dynamic,stormy world.海王星原来是个有生气、多风暴的世界。

4 craters   

n.火山口( crater的名词复数 )；弹坑等

参考例句：

• Small meteorites have left impact craters all over the planet's surface. 这个行星的表面布满了小块陨石留下的撞击坑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The battlefield was full of craters made by exploding shells. 战场上布满弹坑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 engraved   

v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中）

参考例句：

• The silver cup was engraved with his name. 银杯上刻有他的名字。
• It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back. 此件雕刻精美，背面有花饰图案。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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》

7 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

8 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

9 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

10 trickle   

vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散

参考例句：

• The stream has thinned down to a mere trickle.这条小河变成细流了。
• The flood of cars has now slowed to a trickle.汹涌的车流现在已经变得稀稀拉拉。

11 detector   

n.发觉者，探测器

参考例句：

• The detector is housed in a streamlined cylindrical container.探测器安装在流线型圆柱形容器内。
• Please walk through the metal detector.请走过金属检测器。