http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2007/new/may/28/today-int7.htm 《中英对照读新闻》Saturn’s rings are dense clumps, study finds 研究发现 土星环是密集块状物 ◎胡立宗 Saturn’s rings may look smooth and even when viewed through a telescope but they are in fact made up of clumps of particles and may be much denser than realized, scientists said on Tuesday. 土星环也许看起来很平滑，甚至从天文望远镜里看去也是一样；但土星环 事实上是由许多粒子组成的块状物质所构成，而且比想像中的还要密集， 科学家周二表示。 Measurements taken from the joint NASA, Italian and European Space Agency Cassini spacecraft show that the particles in Saturn’s B ring are constantly colliding, which surprised scientists. 检视由美国航太总署、义大利及欧洲太空总署合作的卡西尼号太空船任务 的资料後发现，土星B环的颗粒一直不断互相碰撞，这让科学家感到惊讶。 "The rings are different from the picture we had in our minds," said Larry Esposito of the University of Colorado at Boulder, who led the study done using ultraviolet imaging. 「照片上的土星环跟我们想的样子不一样」，负责运用紫外线成像完成该 研究的科罗拉多大学波德分校的拉瑞．艾斯波西多表示。 "We originally thought we would see a uniform cloud of particles. Instead we find that the particles are clumped together with empty spaces in between." 「我们原以为会看到整齐划一的粒子云。结果发现粒子聚成一团，中间带 点空隙。」 That means scientists have underestimated the mass of Saturn’s rings. They may be two to three times denser than previous estimates, the researchers said. 这项结果代表科学家们低估了土星环的质量。土星环质量可能是原先推估 的两到三倍，研究人员说。 -- 〒作者：SolarMax 来自：145-222.dorm.ncu.edu.tw ◎二进位的世界【140.115.50.50‧bbs.ncu.cc】