天文學(xué)家捕捉到神秘的星際彗星的圖像

天文學(xué)家捕捉到神秘的星際彗星的圖像

A mysterious object hurtling toward our solar system from deep space has been photographed by scientists.

科學(xué)家們拍攝到一個神秘的物體，從外太空向我們的太陽系疾馳而來。

The incoming comet is like nothing scientists have seen before and is believed to have come from another star system.

這顆即將到來的彗星與科學(xué)家之前所見的完全不同，科學(xué)家認為它來自另一個星系。

That makes the visitor, known as 2I/Borisov, only the second interstellar object ever spotted in our solar system.

這使得這個被稱為2I/Borisov的訪客成為太陽系中發(fā)現(xiàn)的第二個星際物體。

Discovered in August, Borisov has traveled at least 7 trillion miles to get here and will make its close approach to Earth next month.

博里索夫于今年8月被發(fā)現(xiàn)，它已經(jīng)航行了至少7萬億英里來到這里，并將于下個月靠近地球。

Experts captured a closeup of the object Sunday using a telescope at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

周日，專家們在夏威夷的凱克天文臺用望遠鏡捕捉到了該天體的特寫鏡頭。

The image, taken by Yale University scientists, showed the comet surrounded by a bright white glow.

這張由耶魯大學(xué)科學(xué)家拍攝的照片顯示，彗星被明亮的白光環(huán)繞。

Made up of ice and other debris crumbling from Borisov’s main body, the ghostly tail stretches a staggering 100,000 miles.

由冰和其他從鮑里索夫身體上剝落下來的碎片組成，幽靈般的尾巴綿延10萬英里。

That makes it longer than 12 Earths stacked side by side behind the comet.

這使得它比在彗星后面并排排列的12個地球還要長。

“It’s humbling to realize how small Earth is next to this visitor from another solar system,” said Yale scientist Dr. Pieter van Dokkum.

耶魯大學(xué)的科學(xué)家Pieter van Dokkum博士說:“與來自另一個太陽系的訪客相比，地球顯得如此之小，真讓人感到慚愧。”

Borisov is only the second interstellar object spotted in our cosmic neighborhood. The first was ‘Oumuamua in 2017.

鮑里索夫是在我們的宇宙鄰居中發(fā)現(xiàn)的第二個星際物體。第一個是2017年的Oumuamua。

Traveling at around 110,000 mph, the interloper will pass roughly 190 million miles from Earth in December, according to NASA.

據(jù)美國國家航空和宇宙航行局(NASA)稱，“闖入者”的速度約為每小時11萬英里，將于12月從距離地球約1.9億英里的地方經(jīng)過。

That’s about twice the average distance from Earth to the sun.

這大約是地球到太陽平均距離的兩倍。

Borisov’s breakneck speed indicates it came from interstellar space and will likely return there again sometime next year.

鮑里索夫極快的速度表明它來自星際空間，并可能在明年某個時候再次返回那里。

Unlike ‘Oumuamua, which was only spotted as it sped past Earth, scientists saw Borisov coming weeks before its visit.

與“Oumuamua”不同的是，“Oumuamua”只是在經(jīng)過地球時才被發(fā)現(xiàn)，科學(xué)家們在它訪問前幾周才看到了它。

This has allowed them to study it extensively before it shoots off into interstellar space again.

這使得他們能夠在它再次發(fā)射到星際空間之前進行廣泛的研究。

“Comet Borisov will eventually leave our solar system,” University of California astronomer Dr. Paul Kalas wrote last month.

“波里索夫彗星最終將離開我們的太陽系，”加州大學(xué)天文學(xué)家保羅·卡拉斯博士上個月寫道。

“Until then we should all enjoy the marvelous beauty of our alien comet friend.”

“在那之前，我們都應(yīng)該欣賞我們的外星彗星朋友的奇妙之美。”

Despite numerous attempts to study Borisov, scientists remain clueless as to what it is. Many speculate the distant mass is a comet.

盡管科學(xué)家們曾多次嘗試研究鮑里索夫病毒，但他們對它究竟是什么仍然一無所知。許多人推測那遙遠的質(zhì)量是一顆彗星。

Experts say it’ll take a few more months to plot the object’s full trajectory, which may yield clues as to what it is and where it came from.

專家表示，繪制該物體的完整軌跡還需要幾個月的時間，這可能會提供有關(guān)它是什么以及它來自哪里的線索。

In studying it, scientists hope to shed light on how comets and other objects form in distant star systems.

在研究過程中，科學(xué)家們希望能夠闡明彗星和其他天體是如何在遙遠的星系中形成的。

The goal is to get a better understanding of how the universe ticks outside of our Milky Way.

我們的目標是更好地了解銀河系之外的宇宙是如何運轉(zhuǎn)的。

According to prominent astronomer Dr. Seth Shostak, 76, we can’t say for sure Borisov is not an alien probe sent to study our planet.

76歲的著名天文學(xué)家塞思·肖斯塔克博士說，我們不能確定鮑里索夫不是用來研究我們星球的外星探測器。

“We can’t rule out that this is an interstellar probe,” Shostak, a senior astronomer at the SETI Institute in California, told the Sun in September.

“我們不排除這是一個星際探測器，”加州SETI研究所的高級天文學(xué)家肖斯塔克9月告訴《太陽報》。

“If we get a closeup look, we may well see it has a metal exterior with portholes and little green faces looking out at us.

“如果我們近距離觀察，我們很可能會看到它的金屬外殼上有舷窗，還有綠色的小臉蛋在看著我們。

“However, I would bet next month’s paycheck this is a comet.”

“不過，我敢打賭下個月的工資就是一顆彗星。”