中护英语 | 地球不孤单：NASA发现7颗“地球2.0”

Astronomers have found at least seven Earth-sizedplanetsorbiting the same star 40 light-years away, according to a studypublished Wednesday in the journal Nature. The findings were also announced ata news conference at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

据本周三刊载在《自然》杂志上的一项研究显示，天文学家在40光年外发现了至少7颗类地行星，它们都围绕着同一颗恒星。在华盛顿NASA总部的一场新闻发布会上也宣布了这一消息。

This discovery outside of our solar system is rarebecause the planets have the winning combination of being similar in size toEarth and being all temperate, meaning they could have water on their surfaces andpotentially support life.

太阳系外的这次发现非常罕见，因为那些行星都和地球差不多大，而且气候温和，这种成功的组合意味着那些行星表面可能存在水，有可能会存在生命。

"This is the first time that so many planets of thiskind are found around the same star," said Michael Gillon, lead studyauthor and astronomer at the University of Liege in Belgium.

该研究主要作者、比利时列日大学天文学家迈克尔·吉伦表示说：“这是第一次发现如此之多的这种行星围绕着同一个恒星。”

The seven exoplanets were all found in tight formation around an ultracool dwarf star called TRAPPIST-1. Estimates of their mass also indicatethat they are rocky planets, rather than being gaseous like Jupiter. Threeplanets are in the habitable zone of the star, known as TRAPPIST-1e, f and g, and may evenhave oceans on the surface.

这7颗系外行星被发现非常密集地围绕着一颗超冷矮星TRAPPIST-1。通过对它们质量的估计得知它们是岩石行星，而不是像木星那样的气态行星。其中3颗行星（称之为TRAPPIST-1e、f和g）处在恒星的可居住带上，表面甚至可能会存在海洋。

The researchers believe that TRAPPIST-1f in particular is the best candidatefor supporting life. It’s a bit cooler than Earth, but could besuitable with the right atmosphere and enough greenhouse gases.

研究人员认为TRAPPIST-1f存在生命的可能性最大。这颗行星的气温比地球稍低，但是可以存在合适的大气压和足够的温室气体。

"I think we’ve made a crucial step towards finding if there is life outthere," said Amaury Triaud, one of the study authors and an astronomer atthe University of Cambridge. "I don’t think any time before we had theright planets to discover and find out if there was (life). Here, if lifemanaged to thrive and releases gases similar to what we have on Earth, we willknow."

该项研究作者之一、剑桥大学天文学家阿莫里·特里奥表示说：“我认为我们在发现是否存在地外生命方面走出了至关重要的一步。以前我认为我们不可能找到了有可能存在生命的合适行星。到底有没有生命繁荣发展、释放出像地球生命一样的气体，在这里我们将知道答案。”

文章来源：IYUBA