2015考研英语阅读另一个地球_大学英语阅读

2015考研英语阅读另一个地球

　　存在这么一个行星，它环绕天琴座星系中一颗600光年远的恒星运行，之前被怀疑的不存在，开普勒号，隶属于美国国家航空与宇宙航行局，即美国航天局，它通过观察当行星通过时恒星光亮度的变化来工作。它标识显现的光度弱化可能为候选行星，开普勒22b就是一个。但是一个行星的确认需要通过三个检测，开普勒22b现在已经通过检验。最重要的是，他环绕着其恒星的适居带很好地运行;不会太近也不太远液体水可能存在在上面。

　　It joins two other Earthlike planets-Gliese 581d and HD 85512 b-discovered by another instrument within the past few years. In truth, the term Earthlike is a stretch. Kepler 22b has a radius 2.4 times that of Earth, and if it is made from roughly the same stuff its surface gravity will also be about 2.4 times as strong. But NASA s astronomers remain unsure whether it is predominantly gaseous, liquid or solid.

　　它加入了另外两个类地球行星Gliese 581d 和HD 85512 b在过去的几年里被另外的仪器发现的。事实上，类地球行星这个词言过其实，Kepler 22b半径是地球的2.4倍，如果它和地球的组成大致相同，它的表面引力也将大约高达地球引力的2.4倍。但是美国国家航天与宇宙航行局的天文学家仍不能确定它主要是气体的、液体的或是固体的。

　　Nevertheless, Kepler 22b is the most promising exoplanet yet found. Unlike the others, which skirt the edges of their stars Goldilocks zones, Kepler 22b orbits comfortably within its own. NASA s researchers reckon its surface temperature is about 22C, compared with 15C on Earth. Its parent star is similar to the sun, again unlike those of the other two candidates, both of which orbit cooler, dimmer stars. Indeed Gliese 581d s parent is a red dwarf-the tiniest stellar species. That means its Goldilocks zone is so close to it that the planet may be tidally locked, as the moon is to the Earth. If that were the case, one side of Gliese 581d would be permanently lit while the other experienced unending darkness.