小行星可能撞击火星 |
文章来源： 文章作者： 发布时间：2008-02-21 06:44 字体： [ 大 中 小] 进入论坛 |
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译文:小行星可能撞击火星
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科学家星期三宣称有大块太空岩石以1/75的机率撞击火星。
史蒂文切斯利，美国宇航局喷射推进实验室近地球目标计划的科学家说：“这种机率极不寻常。当我们跟踪......威胁小行星的物体时经常选取那些可能性较大的物体进行研究”。
这颗小行星在2007年数据研究中比较有名，在11月份下旬被发现，它的尺寸与1908年撞击遥远的西伯利亚中心的那颗不明物很相似。
这颗小行星所发出的能量相当于是15兆吨原子弹爆炸的威力，可以扫除6千万棵树。
科学家们追踪的这颗小行星，位于地球和火星正中问，起初撞击的可能性只有1/350，但本周已经上升了这种机率。
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A newly discovered hunk of space rock has a 1 in 75 chance of slamming into the Red Planet on Jan. 30, scientists said Thursday.
"These odds2 are extremely unusual. We frequently work with really long odds when we track ... threatening asteroids," said Steve Chesley, an astronomer3 with the Near Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The asteroid, known as 2007 WD5, was discovered in late November and is similar in size to an object that hit remote central Siberia in 1908.
The asteroid is unleashing4 energy equivalent to a 15-megaton nuclear bomb and wiping out 60 million trees.
Scientists tracking the asteroid, currently halfway5 between Earth and Mars, initially6 put the odds of impact at 1 in 350 but increased the chances this week.
Scientists expect the odds to diminish again early next month after getting new observations of the asteroid's orbit, Chesley said.
"We know that it's going to fly by Mars and most likely going to miss, but there's a possibility of an impact," he said.
If the asteroid does smash into Mars, it will probably hit near the equator close to where the rover Opportunity has been exploring the Martian plains since 2004.
The robot is not in danger because it lies outside the impact zone.
Speeding at 8 miles a second, a collision would carve a hole the size of the famed Meteor Crater7 in Arizona.
In 1994, fragments of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 smacked8 into Jupiter, creating a series of overlapping9 fireballs in space.
Astronomers10 have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.
"Unlike an Earth impact, we're not afraid, but we're excited," Chesley said. |
点击  收听单词发音
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1
asteroid
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| n.小行星；海盘车(动物) |
参考例句： |
- Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
- It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。
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2
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 |
参考例句： |
- The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
- Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？
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3
astronomer
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| n.天文学家 |
参考例句： |
- A new star attracted the notice of the astronomer.新发现的一颗星引起了那位天文学家的注意。
- He is reputed to have been a good astronomer.他以一个优秀的天文学者闻名于世。
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4
unleashing
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| v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的现在分词 ) |
参考例句： |
- Company logos: making people's life better by unleashing Cummins power. 公司理念：以康明斯动力建设更美好的生活！ 来自互联网
- Sooner or later the dam will burst, unleashing catastrophic destruction. 否则堤坝将崩溃，酿成灾难。 来自互联网
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5
halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 |
参考例句： |
- We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
- In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。
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6
initially
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| adv.最初，开始 |
参考例句： |
- The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
- Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。
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crater
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| n.火山口，弹坑 |
参考例句： |
- With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
- They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。
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8
smacked
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| 拍，打，掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 ) |
参考例句： |
- He smacked his lips but did not utter a word. 他吧嗒两下嘴，一声也不言语。
- She smacked a child's bottom. 她打孩子的屁股。
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overlapping
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| adj./n.交迭（的） |
参考例句： |
- There is no overlapping question between the two courses. 这两门课程之间不存在重叠的问题。
- A trimetrogon strip is composed of three rows of overlapping. 三镜头摄影航线为三排重迭的象片所组成。
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astronomers
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| n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 ) |
参考例句： |
- Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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