航天机构报告称2032年小行星撞击地球的风险增加
📖 逐句对照翻译
Scientists say the threat of a large space rock striking the Earth in 2032 has increased.
科学家表示，一颗大型太空岩石在2032年撞击地球的威胁有所增加。
Recent calculations suggest there is a small chance - perhaps around 1 to 3 percent - the space rock 2024 YR4 will hit Earth in 2032.
最近的计算表明，小行星2024 YR4在2032年撞击地球的可能性很小，大约在1%到3%之间。
This also means there is around a 97 to 99 percent chance it will safely pass our planet in that year.
这也意味着，在那一年，它安全掠过我们地球的概率约为97%至99%。
The odds of a strike will likely continue to go up and down as the asteroid’s path around the sun is better understood.
随着对小行星绕太阳运行轨道的进一步了解，撞击的可能性很可能会继续上下波动。
And scientists say there is a good chance the risk will drop to zero.
科学家表示，风险很有可能降至零。
NASA and the European Space Agency’s Webb Space Telescope will observe this near-Earth asteroid in March before the object becomes impossible to see.
美国国家航空航天局和欧洲航天局的韦伯太空望远镜将在三月份观测这颗近地小行星，之后该天体将无法被观测到。
Once that happens, scientists will have to wait until 2028 when it passes our way again.
一旦这种情况发生，科学家们将不得不等到2028年它再次经过我们附近。
What is an asteroid?
什么是小行星？
Asteroids are space rocks orbiting the sun.
小行星是环绕太阳运行的太空岩石。
Asteroids are much smaller than planets.
小行星比行星小得多。
Scientists believe they are the leftovers from the solar system’s formation 4.6 billion years ago.
科学家认为它们是46亿年前太阳系形成时留下的残余物。
There are millions of asteroids orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter.
有数百万颗小行星在火星和木星之间环绕太阳运行。
That area is known as the main asteroid belt.
那个区域被称为主小行星带。
The asteroids sometimes get pushed out of the belt and can end up elsewhere.
小行星有时会被挤出小行星带，最终落到其他地方。
How do scientists follow worrisome asteroids?
科学家如何追踪令人担忧的小行星？
A telescope in Chile discovered the asteroid 2024 YR4 in late December.
智利的一台望远镜在12月下旬发现了小行星2024 YR4。
It is estimated to measure between 40 and 90 meters across.
据估计，其直径在40至90米之间。
NASA said observations by the Webb space telescope should provide a more exact measurement.
美国国家航空航天局表示，韦伯太空望远镜的观测应能提供更精确的测量结果。
At first, NASA and the European Space Agency put the odds of a strike at just over one percent.
起初，美国宇航局和欧洲航天局认为撞击的概率略高于百分之一。
But later calculations suggested the odds had risen to 2 or even 3 percent.
但后来的计算表明，这一概率已上升至2%甚至3%。
NASA described the likelihood of a strike as “extremely low.”
美国国家航空航天局称，发生撞击的可能性“极低”。
Until scientists have a better understanding of the asteroid’s path around the sun, they warned that the odds will continue to change — and quite possibly fall to zero.
在科学家们更好地了解这颗小行星绕太阳运行的轨道之前，他们警告说，可能性将继续变化——而且很有可能降至零。
“You don’t have to be worried about anything. It’s a curiosity,” said Larry Denneau.
拉里·丹诺说：“你不用担心任何事情。这只是出于好奇。”
He is a software engineer at the University of Hawaii working with ATLAS, a program to identify asteroids that might endanger Earth.
他是夏威夷大学的一名软件工程师，与ATLAS项目合作，该项目旨在识别可能对地球构成威胁的小行星。
That effort first spotted the asteroid.
正是那次努力首次发现了这颗小行星。
Denneau said, “Don’t panic. Let the process play out, and we’ll have a for-sure answer.”
德诺说：“不要惊慌。让这个过程继续下去，我们就会得到确切的答案。”
In 2021, NASA said another possibly worrisome asteroid, Apophis, did not present a risk to Earth.
2021年，美国宇航局表示，另一颗可能令人担忧的小行星阿波菲斯不会对地球构成风险。
NASA made the announcement after additional telescope observations ruled out any chance of it hitting Earth in 2068.
美国宇航局在额外的望远镜观测排除了它在2068年撞击地球的可能性后宣布了这一消息。
Should we worry about asteroid 2024 YR4?
我们应该担心小行星2024 YR4吗？
Experts say it is too soon to worry about 2024 YR4.
专家表示，现在担心2024 YR4还为时过早。
Paul Chodas is director of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.
保罗·乔达斯是美国宇航局近地天体研究中心的主任。
Chodas said in an email to the Associated Press, “No one should be concerned that the impact probability is rising. This is the behavior our team expected.”
乔达斯在给美联社的一封电子邮件中说：“任何人都不应该担心撞击概率上升。这是我们团队预料之中的行为。”
Chodas added, “To be clear, we expect the impact probability to drop to zero at some point.”
乔达斯补充道：“需要明确的是，我们预计撞击概率会在某个时刻降至零。”
Since the asteroid’s size and orbit are uncertain, it is unclear where it might hit and what the possible effects would be should it strike Earth.
由于小行星的大小和轨道尚不确定，因此它可能撞击何处，以及一旦撞击地球可能产生何种影响，目前都还不清楚。
ESA said, if the asteroid is smaller, the effect might be similar to the Tunguska event that flattened thousands of square kilometers of forest in Siberia in 1908.
欧洲航天局表示，如果小行星体积较小，其影响可能与1908年通古斯事件相似，那次事件摧毁了西伯利亚数千平方公里的森林。
But if the asteroid is larger, close to 100 meters, the effects “would be significantly worse.”
但如果小行星更大，接近100米，其影响“将会严重得多”。
Chodas said once the Webb telescope measures the asteroid’s size, NASA can predict “how serious an impact this asteroid could produce and how difficult a task it might be to deflect this asteroid.”
乔达斯表示，一旦韦伯望远镜测量出这颗小行星的大小，NASA就能预测“这颗小行星可能产生多严重的撞击，以及偏转这颗小行星可能有多困难”。
NASA already has some experience moving an asteroid.
NASA已经有一些移动小行星的经验。
The space agency’s Dart spacecraft hit a harmless asteroid in 2022.
航天局的Dart航天器于2022年撞击了一颗无害的小行星。
This was the first planetary defense test of its kind, changing the asteroid’s orbit around its larger companion asteroid.
这是同类行星防御测试中的首次，改变了该小行星围绕其较大伴星的轨道。
I’m John Russell.
我是约翰·拉塞尔。
Marcia Dunn reported this story for the Associated Press.
玛西亚·邓恩为美联社报道了这一新闻。
John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English.
约翰·拉塞尔为VOA英语学习频道改编了它。
