Astronomers have spotted what they believe is a planet in the dramatic and violent process of being born in another solar system, an event that may shed light on how planets come into being.
天文学家在另一个太阳系发现一颗行星，他们认为它正处于引人注目、惊天动地的诞生过程中。这可能有助于我们了解行星的形成。
An international team of researchers said the so-called protoplanet has a mass that appears to be at least the size of Jupiter, and perhaps two to three times its size. It is located about 335 light years from Earth, within the Milky Way. That isn't too far in cosmic terms; the Milky Way itself is about 100,000 light years across.
一个国际研究小组说，这颗原行星的质量似乎至少跟木星一样，甚至可能是木星的两三倍。它在银河系中距地球约335光年的位置。从宇宙的角度看，这个距离并不很远。银河系自身的直径就有10万光年左右。
'If we are correct, this is the first time we are seeing a planet forming inside its natal environment,' said Sascha Quanz, an astronomer at the Swiss university ETH Zurich and leader of the team. The findings are reported in Astrophysical Journal Letters, a scientific publication.
瑞士苏黎世联邦理工学院(ETH Zurich)的天文学家、该研究小组负责人宽茨(Sascha Quanz)说，如果我们的分析正确无误，那这就是我们第一次目睹一颗行星在其诞生环境内形成。该研究成果刊于科技出版物《天体物理学杂志通讯》(Astrophysical Journal Letters)上。
There are two leading theories of planet formation. Under one, small dust grains circling around a parent star collide, get larger and larger, and under the force of gravity develop into a much larger object. Over hundreds of thousands of years, this object accumulates enough material to become a planet. That is how the planets of our solar system most likely formed.
关于行星形成，目前主要有两种理论。一种认为，围绕在母恒星周围的小尘埃颗粒相互碰撞，不断变大，然后在重力作用下发展为一个巨大的物体。经过数十万年，这个物体积聚了足够多的物质，变成一颗行星。我们太阳系中的行星很可能就是这样形成的。
Another theory suggests that material surrounding a young star can undergo gravitational collapse under its own mass. This causes debris to clump together in that region, creating a planet in just a few thousand years. It isn't clear how the latest suspected protoplanet is being formed.
另一种理论认为，围绕在年轻恒星周围的物质在自身质量作用下，可能会出现引力坍塌现象，从而导致碎片在那个区域聚集，经过几千年的时间便可形成一颗行星。目前还不清楚最新发现的这颗疑似原行星正以哪种方式形成。
Spotting the earliest birth pangs of a planet is notoriously hard. In 2011, astronomers said they had discovered a protoplanet, though some signs indicated it was an older entity. In January, another team of researchers reported evidence of vast streams of gas flowing across a gap in a disk of material around a young star. Giant planets, they surmised, would guzzle gas in a similar way as they grow.
众所周知，要想观察到行星形成时的"阵痛"是很难的。天文学家2011年曾说，他们发现了一颗原行星，但有迹象表明那是一个更老的星体。今年1月，另一个研究小组称，发现了巨大气流流经某年轻星体周围物质盘空隙的证据。他们总结认为，巨大的行星在成长过程中会以类似方式消耗气体。
If it holds up, the latest finding would be one of the first direct observations of the very early stages of a planet's birth. Dr. Quanz and colleagues based their discovery on observations by a high-resolution infrared camera linked to a telescope located in Chile's Atacama Desert.
如果这个现象持续下去，那么这将是人类第一次直接观察行星诞生的初始状态。宽茨与同事是通过一台高分辨率红外相机观察到这一现象的，该相机与放置在智利阿塔卡马沙漠(Atacama Desert)的望远镜相连。
The telescope was pointed at a young star, HD 100546, about 2.5-times the size of our sun. Astronomers were interested in the star because the disk of materials around it showed certain asymmetries. 'It's a good indication that something might be hiding or forming in the disk,' said Dr. Quanz.
这台望远镜瞄准的是一个年轻的恒星HD 100546，大小约是太阳的2.5倍。天文学家之所以对这颗恒星感兴趣，是因为围绕它的物质盘出现了某种不对称。宽茨说，这很可能表示物质盘里藏着或正在形成什么东西。
The infrared imagery revealed a little bright blob in the disk, suggesting an entity emitting radiation. When the picture of the blob was laid over an image of the asymmetry, they coincided perfectly. The conclusion: The blob was an object embedded in the material around the star, suggesting a nascent planet.
红外图片显示，那个物质盘里有一个小亮斑，这意味着它是一个散发辐射的实体。当把这个有亮斑的图片放在那个不对称物的图片上时，二者完全重合。所以结论就是：这个亮斑是嵌在该星体周围物质中的一个物体，可能是一颗新生行星。
The protoplanet would take tens of thousands of years to grow up. But scientists still hope to study the entity and glean insights into how it was created and how it might evolve. 'We can try to find out the chemical and physical properties of the disk that causes a planet to form there,' said Dr. Quanz.
原行星的形成需要经历成千上万年。但科学家仍希望对它展开研究，以便了解它的诞生和演变。宽茨说，我们可以试着弄明白那些孕育行星的物质盘有哪些化学和物理特性。
GAUTAM NAIK
- planet [´plænit]
n.行星 (初中英语单词) - dramatic [drə´mætik] a.戏剧的；戏剧般的 (初中英语单词)
- violent [´vaiələnt] a.强暴的；猛烈的 (初中英语单词)
- system [´sistəm] n.系统，体系，制度 (初中英语单词)
- international [,intə´næʃənəl] a.国际的，世界的 (初中英语单词)
- jupiter [´dʒu:pitə] n.朱庇特；木星 (初中英语单词)
- journal [´dʒə:nəl] n.日记；日报；杂志 (初中英语单词)
- scientific [,saiən´tifik] a.科学(上)的 (初中英语单词)
- undergo [,ʌndə´gəu] vt.经历(受)；遭受 (初中英语单词)
- pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)
- indication [,indi´keiʃən] n.指示；征兆，迹象 (初中英语单词)
- conclusion [kən´klu:ʒən] n.结束；结论；推论 (初中英语单词)
- chemical [´kemikəl] a.化学的 n.化学制品 (初中英语单词)
- physical [´fizikəl] a.物质的；有形的 (初中英语单词)
- so-called [´sou ´kɔ:ld] a.所谓的，号称的 (高中英语单词)
- seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)
- astronomer [ə´strɔnəmə] n.天文学家 (高中英语单词)
- formation [fɔ:´meiʃən] n.形成；构成；排列 (高中英语单词)
- collide [kə´laid] vi.碰撞；冲突 (高中英语单词)
- gravity [´græviti] n.严肃；严重；重力 (高中英语单词)
- surrounding [sə´raundiŋ] n.周围的事物 (高中英语单词)
- collapse [kə´læps] vi.&n.崩溃；病倒；衰败 (高中英语单词)
- finding [´faindiŋ] n.发现物；判断；结果 (高中英语单词)
- telescope [´teliskəup] n.望远镜 (高中英语单词)
- perfectly [´pə:fiktli] ad.理想地；完美地 (高中英语单词)
- evolve [i´vɔlv] v.进化；发展；引出；推论 (英语六级单词)
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