原文取自： http://www.universetoday.com/2008/01/04/ organic-molecules-found-outside-our-solar-system/#more-12327 written by Nicholos Wethington Organic Molecules Found Outside our Solar System 在太阳系外找到的有机分子 Organic molecules are thought by scientists to be instrumental in kickstarting life as we know it on Earth. Within our Solar System they can be found in comets, and they cause the redness of the clouds of Saturn's moon Titan. New observations of a planet-forming disk around a star 220 light-years from Earth reveal for the first time that these molecules exist elsewhere in the Universe. 科学家认为有机分子有助於开创地球上已知的生命。在太阳系内，有机分子 可以在彗星内找到，并造成土星卫星泰坦云层的红化。对一个距地球220光年 远、行星正形成中的环星盘的新观测显示，这些分子可以存在於宇宙中其他 地方。 Astronomers at the Carnegie Institute have detected the presence of organic molecules in the dusty disk surrounding HR 4796A, an eight-million year-old star in the constellation Centaurus. Using Hubble's Near-Infrared Multi-Object Spectrometer they analyzed the light coming from the disk and found that its red color is due to large organic carbon molecules called tholins. The analysis ruled out other causes of the red light, such as iron oxide. 卡内基研究所的天文学家在环绕恒星HR 4796A的尘埃盘内侦测到有机分子。这是 颗位於半人马座，年龄为八百万年的恒星。科学家使用哈伯望远镜的近红外线多 天体光谱仪分析来自环星盘的光，并发现其偏红的颜色肇因於一种称为“tholins” 的大型有机碳分子。这项分析排除了其它造成红光物质的可能性，例如氧化铁。 “Until recently it’s been hard to know what makes up the dust in a disk from scattered light, so to find tholins this way represents a great leap in our understanding,” said John Debes of the Carnegie Institute's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, one of the authors of the study. 「直到最近，我们还是难以从散射光得知环星盘中的尘埃是由什麽构成，所以 找到tholins对我们而言是很大的进展。」研究作者之一，卡内基研究所地磁 部门的约翰‧德贝斯 (John Debes) 表示。 Just as in our early Solar System, the disk of dust is in the process of forming planets. The collision of small bodies like asteroids and comets creates the dust in the disk, and the organic molecules present on these objects could then be scattered on any planets orbiting the star. This discovery makes it clear that it is possible for organic molecules to exist in the early stages of planet formation, paving the way for the possible development of life later on. 正如我们的早期太阳系，这个尘埃盘也正在形成行星。如小行星、彗星之类的小 天体的碰撞造成了环星盘中的尘埃，因此这些小天体上的有机分子得以散播到任 何环绕此恒星的行星上。这项发现证实了有机分子能存在於行星形成的早期过程 中，替随後可能发生的生命演进铺路。 Organic molecules are thought to be essential to the development biological organisms because they are made up of carbon, the building block of life on Earth. The discovery of these molecules elsewhere in the Universe does not mean that life exists there yet – or even that it will in the future – but it does increase the tantalizing prospect of life forming outside our Solar System. 有机分子被认为是生物组织发展的必需品，因为它们由碳组成，而碳是地球生命 的基石。在宇宙中其他地方发现这些分子，并不代表生命就存於─甚至将来可能 存於─该处。但这还是增添许多对於太阳系外生命形成的遐想。 --

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