2006年VOA标准英语-New Planet Discovered Around Distant Star

By Paul Sisco
Washington, DC
15 September 2006
 
watch New Planet report

Scientists in Washington D.C. have announced the discovery of a new planet. It is the largest planet ever seen from Earth.  

New planet, HAT-P-1  
  
It is just weeks since Pluto¹ was redefined as a dwarf² planet.  Now, on a gray rainy day at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., astronomers³ announced the discovery of a new planet.  HAT-P-1 orbits one of a pair of distant stars hundreds of light-years beyond ours. The Smithsonian's Robert Noyes told a news conference, "The planet is the largest planet that has ever been seen, inside our solar system or out, and it’s the least dense⁴ planet."

It is almost one and half times bigger than Jupiter -- the largest planet in our solar system. And it is less dense than water.

Robert Noyes  
  
"If you could imagine putting Jupiter in a cosmic water glass, it would sink,” explained Mr. Noyes.  “But this new planet, if you could imagine putting it in a cosmic water glass, it would float. It would float very high up. The density⁵ of this planet is only about one-fourth that of water."

The discovery is the result of data from four small telescopes combined with that from two of the world's largest.  Scanning the sky nightly, astronomers zoomed⁶ in on this pair of stars. They discovered and measured the new planet's shadow on one of them. 

"I personally think we're seeing the tip of the iceberg,” said Noyes. “There are going to be found many, many, many more giant planets, because our technology for detection them is improving, but furthermore, we may discover that Earth-like solar systems like our own are extremely common. There's no reason to doubt that now."

 
Lisa Kaltenegger  
  
That led to a second announcement.

"We do believe that within to 10 to 15 years we will find the first planet that is small and Earth-like," said astrophysicist Lisa Kaltenegger. She and NASA scientist Wes Traub have analyzed⁷ atmospheric⁸ gases keyed to life over Earth's history -- creating something of a fingerprint⁹ for life.

Wes Traub   
  
"We will be able to isolate¹⁰ the light of these planets and tell whether or not the planets we are looking at are giant planets or Earth-like planets,” said Mr. Traub.  And when we find Earth-like planets we have a really good shot of looking at this fingerprint of life on that planet."

Finding similar compositions around distant planets, in theory, will indicate conditions for life as we know it.

1 Pluto   

n.冥王星

参考例句：

• Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。

2 dwarf   

n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小

参考例句：

• The dwarf's long arms were not proportional to his height.那侏儒的长臂与他的身高不成比例。
• The dwarf shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. 矮子耸耸肩膀，摇摇头。

3 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》

4 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

5 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。

6 zoomed   

v.（飞机、汽车等）急速移动( zoom的过去式 )；（价格、费用等）急升，猛涨

参考例句：

• Traffic zoomed past us. 车辆从我们身边疾驰而过。
• Cars zoomed helter-skelter, honking belligerently. 大街上来往车辆穿梭不停，喇叭声刺耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

9 fingerprint   

n.指纹；vt.取...的指纹

参考例句：

• The fingerprint expert was asked to testify at the trial.指纹专家应邀出庭作证。
• The court heard evidence from a fingerprint expert.法院听取了指纹专家的证词。

10 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。