雅思阅读材料之美国宣布发现三颗“新地球”

NASA’s Kepler space telescope has discovered three planets that may be able to support life, while one of them is the most earth-like world spotted to date, scientists say.

美国国家航空航天局公开表示，开普勒天文望远镜已经发现三颗适合人类居住的星球。并且，科学家称，其中之一是迄今为止发现最像地球的星球。

Two exoplanets have been discovered in their stars’ habitable zones, what is known as just the right range of distance where liquid water can exist on a planet’s surface.

开普勒-62的行星系统中，两颗系外行星在它们恒星周围的宜居区中被发现，行星离恒星的距离适中使得行星表面理论上应保有液态水。

Kepler-62f is a rocky world 1.4 times bigger than earth and circles a star smaller and dimmer than the sun. Its neighbor, Kepler-62e, is just 1.6 times larger than Earth. Both are the smallest exoplanets ever found in their stars’ habitable zones.

开普勒-62F 行星是一个比地球大1.4倍的岩石世界，它围绕着一颗比太阳小且暗的恒星运动。它的邻居开普勒-62E行星是地球体积的1.6倍。这两颗行星是在它们恒星周围的的宜居区中所被发现的最小的系外行星。

Both Kepler-62e and f, “look very good as possibilities for looking for life,” said Bill Borucki, the Kepler science principal investigator, of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffet Field, California.

比尔布鲁克是来自加利福尼亚州的开普勒科学首席研究员，他表示说，“开普勒-62E行星和开普勒-62F行星都是看起来可能存在生命的星球”，他在墨菲特地区的美国国家航空航天局埃姆斯研究中心工作。

The third potential earth-like planet identified by the scientists is Kepler-69c, standing at 1.7 times bigger than Earth and orbits a star similar to our own sun. Borucki said it represents a big step towards finding the first ever “alien earth”.

科学家发现的第三颗可能类似地球的行星是开普勒-69C行星，它是地球体积的1.7倍，围绕着一颗类太阳的行星轨道运动，布鲁克说这次的发现是人类在寻找颗“外星地球”过程中所迈出的一大步。

“We’re moving very rapidly towards finding an Earth analogue around a star like the sun,” Borucki told SPACE.com. Kepler-69c lies 2,700 light-years away in the Cyngus constellation.

“人类正在寻找一颗类地行星的探索之路上快步前行”，布鲁克在SPACE网站的访谈上说。开普勒-69C行星位于距离地球约2700光年的天鹅座星系。

The Kelper-62 discovery paper, which is being led by Borucki, was published Thursday in the journal Science.

布鲁克发起的开普勒-62探索论文于当地时间周四在《科学》杂志上发表。

The three potentially habitable worlds are part of a larger find.  Scientists unveiled a total of seven new exoplanets, five in the Kepler-62 system and two in Kepler-69.

这三颗可能适宜人类居住的星球只是最近发现之中的一部分，科学家称总共有七颗新的系外行星被发现，其中五颗属于开普勒-62行星系统，另外两颗则属于开普勒-69行星系统。

The five newfound planets range from 0.54 to1.95 times the size of earth, but only Kepler-62e and f are potentially habitable.

开普勒-62E行星系统中的五颗新发现的行星分别是地球体积的0.54到1.95倍，其中只有开普勒-62E和F行星可能适宜人类居住。