土星环可能比人们之前认为的要古老得多
📖 逐句对照翻译
Recent research suggests that Saturn’s rings may be older than they look — and possibly as old as the planet itself.
最近的研究表明，土星环可能比看上去更古老——甚至可能与土星本身一样古老。
Instead of being 400 million years old as some had thought, the icy rings could be the same age as Saturn: 4.5 billion years old.
冰冷的星环可能与土星同龄，都是45亿岁，而非一些人认为的4亿岁。
A Japanese-led research team reported Saturn’s rings may be in good condition not because they are young but because they are dirt-resistant.
一个由日本领导的研究小组报告称，土星环可能并非因为年轻而状态良好，而是因为它们具有抗污能力。
For many years, scientists had believed that Saturn’s rings were between 100 million and 400 million years old.
多年来，科学家们一直认为土星环的年龄在1亿至4亿年之间。
This idea came from more than 10 years of observations by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.
这一想法源自NASA卡西尼号航天器十多年的观测。
The spacecraft studied Saturn before its mission ended in 2017.
该航天器在2017年任务结束前对土星进行了研究。
Images by Cassini showed no evidence of any darkening of the rings by impacts from micrometeoroids — space rock particles smaller than a grain of sand.
卡西尼号拍摄的图像显示，没有任何证据表明微流星体——比沙粒还小的太空岩石颗粒——的撞击导致土星环变暗。
The finding led scientists to believe the rings formed long after the planet.
这一发现使科学家们相信，这些环是在行星形成很久之后才形成的。
Through computer modeling, the Institute of Science Tokyo’s Ryuki Hyodo and his team showed that micrometeoroids become gas or small liquid drops once they hit the rings.
通过计算机建模，东京科学研究所的兵藤隆树及其团队发现，微流星体一旦撞击到星环上，就会变成气体或小液滴。
As a result, little if any dark or dirty substances, or residue, remain.
因此，几乎不会留下任何深色或污垢物质，或是残留物。
Researchers found that the resulting charged particles are forced toward Saturn or out into space, keeping the rings clean.
研究人员发现，由此产生的带电粒子会被迫朝向土星或进入太空，从而保持土星环的清洁。
The findings dispute the idea that the rings are much younger than the planet.
这些发现对环比行星年轻得多的观点提出了质疑。
The resulting research appeared in the scientific publication Nature Geoscience.
这项研究成果发表在科学出版物《自然地球科学》上。
Hyodo said it is possible Saturn’s rings could be somewhere between the two extreme ages.
兵藤说，土星环的年龄可能介于这两个极端年龄之间。
For example, the rings could be around the halfway mark of 2.25 billion years old.
例如，这些环可能在大约22.5亿年的中点附近。
However, the solar system was much more chaotic during its early years.
然而，太阳系在早期要混乱得多。
Large planetary-sized objects were moving around and affecting each other a lot at that time.
当时，大型行星般大小的物体四处移动，并频繁地相互影响。
It was just the sort of situation that might have produced Saturn’s rings.
这正是可能形成土星环的那种情境。
“Considering the solar system’s evolutionary history, it’s more likely that the rings formed closer to”
考虑到太阳系的演化历史，环更有可能是在更接近
Saturn’s earliest times, Hyodo told the Associated Press in an email.
兵藤在给美联社的一封电子邮件中说，这是土星最早的时期。
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。
