第2196期:Astronomers Find Super-hot ‘Super-Earth’(1)

Astronomers have searched for years for rocky planets outside our solar system. They have finally found one with an atmosphere. 天文学家多年来一直在太阳系外寻找岩石行星。 他们终于找到了一个有气氛的人。

Scientists believe that a rocky planet with an atmosphere is key to sustaining life. But the planet that astronomers found offers no hope for life. Its surface is made up of molten rock. 科学家认为，具有大气层的岩石行星是维持生命的关键。 但天文学家发现的这颗行星没有生命存在的希望。 它的表面由熔岩组成。 

Researchers recently called the planet a “super-Earth.” It is a rocky world much larger than our planet but smaller than the gas giant in our solar system, Neptune. 研究人员最近称这颗行星为“超级地球”。 这是一个岩石世界，比我们的星球大得多，但比太阳系中的气态巨行星海王星小。 

The planet orbits extremely close to its star. The star is less bright and smaller than our own. 这颗行星的轨道非常靠近其恒星。 这颗恒星比我们的恒星更暗、更小。 

Observations using two devices aboard the James Webb Space Telescope suggest there is an atmosphere. But the atmosphere may not be able to support life. It could be continuously filled up by gases that large areas of molten rock release. 使用詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜上的两个设备进行的观测表明存在大气层。 但大气层可能无法维持生命。 它可以不断地被大面积熔岩释放的气体充满。 

Renyu Hu is a planetary scientist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and California Institute of Technology. He was the lead writer of the study, which appeared recently in the publication Nature. 胡仁宇是美国宇航局喷气推进实验室和加州理工学院的行星科学家。 他是这项研究的主要作者，该研究最近发表在《自然》杂志上。 

Hu said, “The atmosphere is likely rich in carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide, but can also have other gases such as water vapor and sulfur dioxide.” He added that current observations cannot tell what the exact atmospheric makeup is. 胡说：“大气中可能富含二氧化碳或一氧化碳，但也可能含有其他气体，例如水蒸气和二氧化硫。” 他补充说，目前的观测无法告诉我们确切的大气成分是什么。 

The Webb data also did not make clear the thickness of the atmosphere. Hu said it could be as thick as Earth’s or even thicker than that of Venus. Venus has a toxic atmosphere that is the densest in our solar system. 韦伯数据也没有明确大气层的厚度。 胡说，它的厚度可能与地球一样厚，甚至比金星还要厚。 金星的有毒大气层是太阳系中最稠密的。 

The planet is called 55 Cancri e. Scientists also call it Janssen. It is about 8.8 times more massive than Earth and about two times as wide. 这颗行星被称为 55 Cancri e。 科学家也称其为詹森。 它的质量约为地球的 8.8 倍，宽度约为地球的两倍。 

It orbits its star at one-25th the distance between our solar system’s innermost planet Mercury and the sun. As a result, its surface temperature is about 1,725 degrees Celsius. 它绕恒星运行的距离是太阳系最内层行星水星与太阳之间距离的二十五分之一。 因此，其表面温度约为1725摄氏度。