VOA科学技术2023 美国韦伯望远镜庆祝其首年科学发现

NASA’s James Webb Celebrates One Year of Science Discoveries

美国韦伯望远镜庆祝其首年科学发现

The James Webb Space Telescope recently celebrated¹ its first year in operation. During that time, the orbiting observatory² – operated by the American space agency NASA – produced colorful, detailed³ images. It has also helped researchers make several new scientific discoveries.

詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜最近庆祝了其运行的第一年。在此期间，由美国宇航局运营的这座轨道天文台拍摄了丰富多彩的详细图像。它还帮助研究人员做出了一些新的科学发现。

NASA has described the telescope as the largest, most powerful telescope ever sent into space. The agency launched the Webb in late 2021 and released its first images in July 2022.

美国宇航局称该望远镜是有史以来送入太空的体积最大、功能最强的望远镜。该机构于2021年末发射了韦伯望远镜，并于2022年7月发布了该望远镜拍下的第一张照片。

The Webb's first full-color images were presented by President Joe Biden. One of the images showed the clearest picture yet of the early universe, about 13 billion years ago.

乔·拜登总统展示了韦伯望远镜拍下的第一张全彩图片。其中一张图片显示了迄今为止最清晰的早期宇宙图片，它的时间大约是在130亿年前。

NASA Administrator⁴ Bill Nelson marked the anniversary with a statement. He said, "In just one year, the James Webb Space Telescope has transformed humanity's view of the cosmos⁵, peering into dust clouds and seeing light from faraway corners of the universe for the very first time."

美国宇航局局长比尔·纳尔逊发表声明纪念韦伯望远镜一周年。他说：“在短短一年的时间里，詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜改变了人类对宇宙的看法，凝视尘埃云，并首次看到了来自宇宙遥远角落的光。”

Most recently, NASA celebrated the Webb's one year anniversary by releasing one of its latest images. The image showed a cloud collection of 50 stars in the process of forming. NASA said the image showed an area of space that is full of hydrogen gas and dust. Scientists said the image was a good representation of this brief period in a star's life.

最近，美国宇航局发布了一张最新的照片，以此庆祝韦伯望远镜一周年。这张图片显示了一个由50颗正在形成的恒星组成的星云集合。美国宇航局表示，这张图片显示了一个充满氢气和灰尘的太空区域。科学家表示，这张照片很好地再现了恒星生命中这段短暂的时期。

At around the same time, researchers announced they had used data from the Webb to identify the most distant, active supermassive black hole ever observed. Scientists say the black hole sits in a galaxy⁶ called CEERS 1019. The galaxy is thought to have existed about 570 million years after the Big Bang – the explosion many scientists believe created the universe.

大约在同一时间，研究人员宣布，他们已经使用韦伯望远镜的数据来确定有史以来观测到的最遥远、最活跃的超大质量黑洞。科学家表示，这个黑洞位于一个名为CEERS 1019的星系中。该星系被认为存在于大爆炸后约5.7亿年，许多科学家认为大爆炸创造了宇宙。

The black hole discovery and others that received help from the Webb were in part made possible through the telescope's infrared⁷ instruments. The instruments collect infrared waves passing through gas and dust that can hide objects in space. The infrared system also shows light from more distant parts of the universe.

黑洞的发现和其它得到韦伯望远镜帮助的发现在一定程度上是通过该望远镜的红外仪器实现的。这些仪器收集了穿过可以隐藏太空中物体的气体和灰尘的红外波。红外系统还显示了来自宇宙更遥远角落的光。

The Webb's instruments have also confirmed the distances of some of the farthest galaxies⁸ ever observed, NASA reported. In addition, the telescope's data has provided more detailed information than ever before about the makeup⁹ of planet atmospheres. And the instruments have also led to discoveries about the chemicals and gases that exist around collections of stars and exoplanets outside of our solar system.

据美国宇航局报道，韦伯望远镜的仪器还证实了目前观测到的最远星系的距离。此外，该望远镜的数据提供了比以往任何时候都更详细的行星大气组成信息。而且这些仪器还发现了太阳系外恒星和系外行星集合周围存在的化学物质和气体。

For example, the Webb helped astronomers¹⁰ observe the most distant molecules¹¹ known to exist in the universe and also led to the discovery of 12 new moons orbiting Jupiter

例如，韦伯望远镜号帮助天文学家观测到了宇宙中已知存在的最遥远的分子，还发现了12颗围绕木星运行的新卫星。

In a statement marking the Webb's one year anniversary, NASA noted¹² the telescope had "resulted in hundreds of scientific papers answering longstanding questions and raising new ones."

在纪念韦伯望远镜望远镜一周年的声明中，美国宇航局指出，该望远镜“产生了数百篇科学论文，解答了长期存在的问题，并提出了新的问题。”

Eric Smith is a Webb program scientist and associate director for research in the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. He said the Webb's wide abilities to support new science discoveries has already become clear. "Webb's first year of science has not only taught us new things about our universe – but it has revealed the capabilities¹³ of the telescope to be greater than our expectations – meaning future discoveries will be even more amazing," Smith said.

埃里克·史密斯是韦伯望远镜项目科学家，也是美国宇航局华盛顿总部天体物理部的研究副主任。他说，韦伯望远镜支持新科学发现的广泛能力已经变得显而易见。史密斯说：“韦伯望远镜第一年产生的科学不仅教会了我们关于宇宙的新东西，而且揭示了该望远镜的能力比我们的预期更大，这意味着未来的发现将更加惊人。”

NASA has said the Webb has enough fuel to operate for at least 20 years. It will soon be joined in orbit by Europe's Euclid space telescope, which launched on July 1. Euclid's main goal, or mission, is to collect data on two of the universe's greatest mysteries: dark energy and dark matter.

美国宇航局表示，韦伯望远镜有足够运行至少20年的燃料。7月1日发射的欧洲欧几里得太空望远镜将很快进入轨道与之作伴。欧几里得的主要目标或任务是收集宇宙中暗能量和暗物质这两个最大谜团的相关数据。

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

3 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

4 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

5 cosmos   

n.宇宙；秩序，和谐

参考例句：

• Our world is but a small part of the cosmos.我们的世界仅仅是宇宙的一小部分而已。
• Is there any other intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos?在宇宙的其他星球上还存在别的有智慧的生物吗？

6 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。

7 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。

8 galaxies   

星系( galaxy的名词复数 )； 银河系； 一群（杰出或著名的人物）

参考例句：

• Quasars are the highly energetic cores of distant galaxies. 类星体是遥远星系的极为活跃的核心体。
• We still don't know how many galaxies there are in the universe. 我们还不知道宇宙中有多少个星系。

9 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

10 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》

11 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

12 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

13 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓