双语阅读NASA发现超级地球或存在生命

After completing its first year of observations in the southern sky, NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite has spotted some intriguing new exoplanets only 31 light-years away from Earth.

美国宇航局的过境系外行星丈量卫星（TESS）在完成对南半球天空的榜首年观测后，发现了几颗间隔地球仅31光年的风趣的新系外行星。

Multiple exoplanets -- planets orbiting stars outside our solar system -- were discovered orbiting an M-dwarf star, called GJ 357 in the Hydra constellation. The star is 40% cooler than our sun and only about a third of the sun's mass and size. A study describing the three planets was published this week in the journal?Astronomy & Astrophysics.

科学家发现了数颗环绕着长蛇座M矮星GJ 357运转的系外行星，系外行星指的是环绕太阳系外恒星运转的行星。这颗恒星的温度比太阳低40%，质量和体积只要太阳的三分之一左右。一项描绘这三颗行星的研讨本周宣布在《地理学与天体物理学》期刊上。

The first exoplanet discovered around the star was GJ 357 b.

科学家发现的首颗环绕这颗恒星运转的系外行星是GJ 357 b。

The exoplanet is 22% larger and 80% more massive than Earth, making it a super-Earth. The researchers estimate that it has an average temperature of 490 degrees Fahrenheit. It completes one orbit around the star every 3.9 days.

这颗系外行星体积比地球大22%，质量比地球高80%，使之成为“超级地球”。研讨人员估量它的平均温度为490华氏度（约合254摄氏度）。这颗行星的公转周期为3.9天。

"We describe GJ 357 b as a 'hot Earth,'" said Enric Pallé, study co-author and astrophysicist at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands. "Although it cannot host life, it is noteworthy as the third-nearest transiting exoplanet known to date and one of the best rocky planets we have for measuring the composition of any atmosphere it may possess."

“咱们将GJ 357 b描绘为一个‘热地球’，”研讨的合作者、加那利群岛天体物理研讨所的天体物理学家恩里克·怕列说。“虽然它不能承载生命，但值得注意的是，它是迄今为止已知的‘第三近程’过境系外行星，也是能够用来丈量其具有的任何大气成分的最佳岩质行星之一。”

The researchers also discovered more signals of exoplanets in the system.

研讨人员还在星系中发现了更多系外行星的信号。

GJ 357 d, a super-Earth that is 6.1 times the Earth's mass, is the most intriguing because it orbits the star at a distance where the temperature might be just right to support liquid water on the surface.

另一颗“超级地球”GJ357d的质量是地球的6.1倍，最令研讨人员感兴趣，由于它环绕恒星运转的间隔使其外表的温度或许刚好适合液态水的存在。

"GJ 357 d is located within the outer edge of its star's habitable zone, where it receives about the same amount of stellar energy from its star as Mars does from the Sun," said Diana Kossakowski, study co-author at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. "If the planet has a dense atmosphere, which will take future studies to determine, it could trap enough heat to warm the planet and allow liquid water on its surface."

“GJ 357 d坐落其恒星宜居带的外边际，它从恒星接收到的能量与火星从太阳接收到的能量差不多，”马克斯普朗克地理研讨所的研讨合著者戴安娜·科萨科夫斯基说。“假如这颗行星有稠密的大气层，它或许会捕获满足的热量使本身变暖，外表就能够留存液态水，而是否存在大气层还需要进一步研讨。”

The researchers don't know if the super-Earth is rocky like our own planet, but it orbits the star every 55.7 days and has a temperature of negative 64 degrees Fahrenheit. An atmosphere could cause it to be warmer.

科学家尚不清楚这颗“超级地球”是否和地球相同归于岩质行星，但它的公转周期为55.7天，温度为零下64华氏度。假如行星上有大气层，温度会更高 。

"This is exciting, as this is humanity's first nearby super-Earth that could harbor life -- uncovered with help from TESS, " said Lisa Kaltenegger, study author, associate professor of astronomy and director of Cornell's Carl Sagan Institute. "With a thick atmosphere, the planet GJ 357 d could maintain liquid water on its surface like Earth and we could pick out signs of life with upcoming telescopes soon to be online."

研讨报告的编撰者、地理学副教授、康奈尔大学卡尔·萨根研讨所所长莉萨·柯廷安说：“这很令人兴奋，由于这是人类在TESS的协助下发现的榜首颗或许存在生命的近间隔‘超级地球’。假如存在稠密的大气层，行星GJ357 d或许像地球相同外表可留存液态水，咱们或许能够经过行将上线的望远镜找到生命的痕迹。

“If GJ 357 d were to show signs of life, it would be at the top of everyone’s travel list—and we could answer a 1,000-year-old question on whether we are alone in the cosmos.”

“假如GJ 357 d行星上有生命痕迹，它将成为每个人游览清单上的榜首目的地，那个困扰咱们上千年的问题或许也将有答案，那个问题便是：人类是不是世界中仅有存在的生命。”

In the middle of those two planets is GJ 357 c. It's 3.4 times the mass of Earth and zips around the planet every 9.1 days, reaching a temperature of 260 degrees Fahrenheit.

行星GJ357 c坐落这两颗行星中心，质量是地球的3.4倍，公转周期为9.1天，温度到达260华氏度。

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