科學(xué)家們在金星上發(fā)現(xiàn)了活火山

科學(xué)家們在金星上發(fā)現(xiàn)了活火山

Our Solar System is filled with interesting worlds that mankind has yet to fully explore. Venus, which is closer to the Sun than Earth but not as close as the steamy Mercury, hasn’t been studied in the same way as some other planets in our system, and there’s still a lot we don’t know about it.

我們的太陽系充滿了人類尚未充分探索的有趣世界。金星比地球離太陽更近，但卻不如濕熱的水星離太陽更近，人們對它的研究與我們太陽系中其他一些行星的研究方式不同，我們對它還有很多不了解的地方。

Now, a new study reveals something about Venus that many scientists have wondered: whether or not the planet has active volcanoes. The research, which was carried out by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), was published in a new paper in Science Advances.

現(xiàn)在，一項新的研究揭示了許多科學(xué)家想知道的關(guān)于金星的一些事情:這個星球上是否有活火山。這項由大學(xué)空間研究協(xié)會(USRA)開展的研究發(fā)表在《科學(xué)進展》的一篇新論文中。

Scientists have known that Venus has a history of volcanism, but just how far back it stretches and whether there are still active volcanoes on its surface has remained a mystery worth probing. That’s just what scientists have now done, and the results suggest that Venus is most definitely still volcanically active.

科學(xué)家們已經(jīng)知道金星有火山活動的歷史，但它究竟延伸了多遠，其表面是否還有活火山，仍然是一個值得探究的謎。這正是科學(xué)家們現(xiàn)在所做的，結(jié)果表明，金星絕對有火山活動。

Using data from the Venus Express spacecraft, scientists have been able to analyze the lava flows and determine how fresh lava reacts once it is exposed on the planet’s surface. What the team discovered is that not only are the existing lava flows on the planet’s surface not particularly ancient, but that some of them are just years old.

利用金星快車號宇宙飛船的數(shù)據(jù)，科學(xué)家們已經(jīng)能夠分析熔巖流，并確定一旦熔巖暴露在火星表面，新鮮的熔巖會發(fā)生怎樣的反應(yīng)。研究小組發(fā)現(xiàn)，不僅火星表面現(xiàn)有的熔巖流不是特別古老，而且有些熔巖流的年代也只有幾年。

“This active volcanism is consistent with episodic spikes of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere measured by both the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and the Venus Express, which could have been produced by the same eruption that formed the young lava flows described,” the paper explains.

“這種活火山活動與先鋒金星軌道器和金星快車測量到的大氣中二氧化硫的周期性峰值相一致，金星快車可能是由形成所描述的年輕熔巖流的同一次噴發(fā)所產(chǎn)生的。”論文解釋道。

Humans aren’t ready to go exploring Venus on foot any time soon. The planet’s surface reaches temperatures of well over 800 degrees Fahrenheit, so it’s not exactly a nice vacation destination. Still, by learning more about the planet, we can better understand our own world, as well as others we may spot far off in space.

人類還沒有準(zhǔn)備好在短期內(nèi)徒步探索金星。地球表面的溫度超過800華氏度，所以它并不是一個理想的度假目的地。盡管如此，通過更多地了解這個星球，我們可以更好地了解我們自己的世界，以及我們可能在遙遠的太空中發(fā)現(xiàn)的其他世界。