英漢雙語閱讀68：昆蟲到底有多聰明？（下）
Scientists have discovered a theoretically habitable, Earth-size planet
科學家發現了一顆理論上可居住的地球大小的行星
Two teams of scientists have discovered a theoretically habitable planet, smaller than Earth but bigger than 維納斯, orbiting a small star about 40 light-years away.
兩組科學家發現了一顆理論上可居住的行星，它比地球小，但比金星大，圍繞著一顆約40光年外的小恒星執行。
The exoplanet, named Gliese 12b, orbits a cool red dwarf star situated in the constellation Pisces and is about 27% the size of our sun and 60% of its temperature, according to the two studies published on Thursday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
周四發表在【天體物理學雜誌快報】和【皇家天文學會月報】上的兩項研究表明，這顆名為Gliese 12b的系外行星圍繞著一顆位於雙魚座的冷紅矮星執行，其大小約為太陽的27%，溫度約為太陽溫度的60%。
Since its star is so much smaller than the sun, Gliese 12b still falls within the habitable zone — the ideal distance away from a star where liquid water can exist -even though it completes its orbit every 12.8 days.
由於它的恒星比太陽小得多，Gliese 12b仍然落在宜居帶內——距離可以存在液態水的恒星的理想距離——即使它每12.8天完成一次軌域執行。
Working on the assumption that the exoplanet doesn’t have an atmosphere, scientists calculated its surface temperature to be around 107 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius).
基於這顆系外行星沒有大氣層的假設，科學家計算出它的表面溫度約為107華氏度（42攝氏度）。
「We’ve found the nearest, transiting, temperate, Earth-size world located to date,」 said Masayuki Kuzuhara, a project assistant professor at the Astrobiology Center in Tokyo and co-leader of one of the research teams with Akihiko Fukui, a project assistant professor at the University of Tokyo, in a statement.
東京天體生物學中心的計畫助理教授Masayuki Kuzuhara在一份聲明中說：「我們發現了迄今為止距離我們最近的、過境的、溫帶的、地球大小的世界。」他與東京大學計畫助理教授Akihiko Fukui共同領導了一個研究小組。
once temperate Earth-size planets have been identified, scientists can then analyze them to determine which elements are contained in their atmospheres and, crucially, whether water is present to sustain life.
一旦確定了溫帶地球大小的行星，科學家們就可以對其進行分析，以確定其大氣中含有哪些元素，至關重要的是，是否存在水來維持生命。
「There’s only a handful (of exoplanets) we’ve found that are good candidates for that. And this is our nearest and so that’s quite a major discovery,」 Larissa Palethorpe, a doctoral student at the University of Edinburgh and University College London who co-led the other study, told CNN on Friday.
愛丁堡大學和倫敦大學學院的博士生賴瑞薩·帕萊索普周五告訴美國有線電視新聞網：「我們發現的（系外行星）只有少數是很好的候選行星。這是我們最近的發現，所以這是一個相當重大的發現。」賴瑞薩·帕萊索普是另一項研究的共同負責人。
Understanding Gliese 12b
了解Gliese 12b
To spot Gliese 12b, scientists used the publicly available data collected by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) — a telescope that stares at tens of thousands of stars every month, tracking their changes in brightness, which can be evidence of orbiting exoplanets.
為了發現Gliese 12b，科學家們使用了美國國家航空暨太空總署的淩日系外行星勘測衛星（TESS）收集的公開數據，TESS是一台每月觀測數萬顆恒星的望遠鏡，追蹤它們的亮度變化，這可能是繞著系外行星執行的證據。
It is easier for astronomers to find exoplanets orbiting red dwarf stars since their relatively small size results in a greater dimming effect during each transit.
天文學家更容易找到圍繞紅矮星執行的系外行星，因為它們相對較小的尺寸會在每次淩日期間產生更大的變暗效應。
At the moment, scientists are unsure exactly what constitutes this planet’s atmosphere, whether it even has one and if water is present, though Palethorpe said they aren’t expecting to find water there.
目前，科學家們還不確定這顆行星的大氣層究竟是由什麽組成的，它是否有大氣層，以及是否存在水，盡管帕萊索普說他們預計不會在那裏找到水。
「There could be no water, and then we know a runaway greenhouse effect has already happened on this planet and it’s more like 維納斯,」 she said. 「There could be water, in which case it’s more like us… or there are signatures that can be detectable that would be able to show you that the runaway greenhouse effect is in progress so it could be losing water.」
她說：「可能沒有水，然後我們知道這個星球上已經發生了失控的溫室效應，它更像金星。」。「可能有水，在這種情況下，它更像我們……或者有可以檢測到的特征，可以向你表明失控的溫室效應正在進行中，因此它可能正在失水。」
For the next stage of analyzing the exoplanet’s atmosphere, scientists are hoping to use the James Webb Space Telescope and conduct spectroscopy analysis. This method involves capturing starlight that shines through an exoplanet’s atmosphere and seeing which wavelengths are absorbed by certain molecules, revealing their presence in the atmosphere.
在分析這顆系外行星大氣的下一階段，科學家們希望使用詹姆士·韋伯太空望遠鏡進行光譜分析。這種方法涉及捕獲穿過系外行星大氣層的星光，並觀察哪些波長被某些分子吸收，從而揭示它們在大氣中的存在。
As well as shedding light on the exoplanet itself, Palethorpe said scientists are hoping that this work can help us understand our own planet better.
帕萊索普說，除了揭示系外行星本身，科學家們希望這項工作能幫助我們更好地了解我們自己的星球。
「What this planet will teach us in particular is what happened for Earth to stay habitable but for 維納斯 to not… It can tell us the habitability patheways that planets take as they develop,」 she said.
她說：「這顆行星將特別教給我們的是，地球保持宜居性，但金星卻不能……它可以告訴我們行星在發展過程中采取的宜居路徑。」
But though the exoplanet could potentially be habitable for humans and is relatively 「near」 our solar system in astronomical terms, it is unlikely that anyone will visit there soon.
但是，盡管這顆系外行星可能適合人類居住，並且在天文學上相對「靠近」我們的太陽系，但不太可能很快有人去那裏。
「It’s not reachable, it’s 12 parsecs away,」 said Palethorpe, adding that it would take about 225,000 years to reach Gliese 12b with the fastest spacecraft that currently exist.
帕萊索普說：「它不可能到達，距離我們12 秒差距 。」他補充說，用目前最快的航天器到達Gliese 12b大約需要22.5萬年的時間。
秒差距 。天文長度單位，基於恒星視差為1秒弧時距地球的距離。以地球公轉軌域的平均半徑為底邊所對應的三角形內角稱為視差。當這個角的大小為1秒時，這個三角形的一條邊的長度（地球到這個恒星的距離）就稱為1秒差距。
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