Scientists Release New Information about Area near Fomalhaut Star

2023-05-13

00:00 / 00:00
复读宝 RABC v8.0beta 复读机按钮使用说明
播放/暂停
停止
播放时:倒退3秒/复读时:回退AB段
播放时:快进3秒/复读时:前进AB段
拖动:改变速度/点击:恢复正常速度1.0
拖动改变复读暂停时间
点击:复读最近5秒/拖动:改变复读次数
设置A点
设置B点
取消复读并清除AB点
播放一行
停止播放
后退一行
前进一行
复读一行
复读多行
变速复读一行
变速复读多行
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1
  • Scientists have released new information about an area around a bright star called Fomalhaut in the Milky Way galaxy.
  • 2
  • The observations, made by the James Webb Space Telescope, provide details about three rings, or belts, of debris orbiting Fomalhaut.
  • 3
  • Fomalhaut, one of the brightest stars in our night sky, is about 25 light years from Earth. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, about 9.5 trillion kilometers.
  • 4
  • Researchers first discovered a belt of debris around Fomalhaut in 1983.
  • 5
  • The Webb found two other rings nearer to the star - a bright inner one and a narrow middle one.
  • 6
  • These three belts appear to be populated by solid objects called planetesimals.
  • 7
  • Some planetesimals are thought to join together early in a star system's history to form planets, while others remain as debris like asteroids and comets.
  • 8
  • Andras Gaspar of the University of Arizona was the lead author of the study published in Nature Astronomy.
  • 9
  • "Much like our solar system, other planetary systems harbor disks of asteroids and comets - leftover planetesimals from the epoch of planet formation - that continuously grind themselves down" during collisions, he said.
  • 10
  • Fomalhaut is 16 times brighter than the sun and almost twice as massive.
  • 11
  • It is about 440 million years old - less than a tenth the age of the sun - but is probably almost halfway through its life.
  • 12
  • The three belts surround Fomalhaut from as far as 23 billion kilometers away.
  • 13
  • That is about 150 times the distance of Earth to the sun.
  • 14
  • While no planets have been discovered yet around Fomalhaut, the researchers suspect the belts were created by gravitational forces of planets.
  • 15
  • Our solar system has two such belts - the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and the Kuiper belt beyond Neptune.
  • 16
  • The gravitational influence of Jupiter, our solar system's largest planet, affects the main asteroid belt.
  • 17
  • Neptune's gravitational influence shapes the inner edge of the Kuiper belt.
  • 18
  • Gaspar said that observations of Fomalhaut suggest the presence of a huge icy planet in the system.
  • 19
  • Debris belts could offer information about planetary beginnings.
  • 20
  • "Understanding this formation process requires a complete understanding of how these disks form and evolve," said study co-author Schuyler Wolff.
  • 21
  • There are many open questions about the dust in the disks, the scientist added.
  • 22
  • Debris disks are the remains of a planet formation process, Wolff said, so their structure can provide valuable information about the underlying planet population and history.
  • 23
  • I'm John Russell.
  • 1
  • Scientists have released new information about an area around a bright star called Fomalhaut in the Milky Way galaxy. The observations, made by the James Webb Space Telescope, provide details about three rings, or belts, of debris orbiting Fomalhaut.
  • 2
  • Fomalhaut, one of the brightest stars in our night sky, is about 25 light years from Earth. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, about 9.5 trillion kilometers.
  • 3
  • Researchers first discovered a belt of debris around Fomalhaut in 1983. The Webb found two other rings nearer to the star - a bright inner one and a narrow middle one.
  • 4
  • These three belts appear to be populated by solid objects called planetesimals. Some planetesimals are thought to join together early in a star system's history to form planets, while others remain as debris like asteroids and comets.
  • 5
  • Andras Gaspar of the University of Arizona was the lead author of the study published in Nature Astronomy.
  • 6
  • "Much like our solar system, other planetary systems harbor disks of asteroids and comets - leftover planetesimals from the epoch of planet formation - that continuously grind themselves down" during collisions, he said.
  • 7
  • Fomalhaut is 16 times brighter than the sun and almost twice as massive. It is about 440 million years old - less than a tenth the age of the sun - but is probably almost halfway through its life.
  • 8
  • The three belts surround Fomalhaut from as far as 23 billion kilometers away. That is about 150 times the distance of Earth to the sun.
  • 9
  • While no planets have been discovered yet around Fomalhaut, the researchers suspect the belts were created by gravitational forces of planets. Our solar system has two such belts - the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and the Kuiper belt beyond Neptune.
  • 10
  • The gravitational influence of Jupiter, our solar system's largest planet, affects the main asteroid belt. Neptune's gravitational influence shapes the inner edge of the Kuiper belt.
  • 11
  • Gaspar said that observations of Fomalhaut suggest the presence of a huge icy planet in the system.
  • 12
  • Debris belts could offer information about planetary beginnings.
  • 13
  • "Understanding this formation process requires a complete understanding of how these disks form and evolve," said study co-author Schuyler Wolff.
  • 14
  • There are many open questions about the dust in the disks, the scientist added. Debris disks are the remains of a planet formation process, Wolff said, so their structure can provide valuable information about the underlying planet population and history.
  • 15
  • I'm John Russell.
  • 16
  • Will Dunham reported on this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English.
  • 17
  • __________________________________________________________________
  • 18
  • Words in This Story
  • 19
  • debris - n. : the pieces that are left after something has been destroyed
  • 20
  • harbor - v. to hold or contain (something)
  • 21
  • epoch - n. an event or a time marked by an event that begins a new period or development
  • 22
  • disk - n. a shape that is flat and round in appearance
  • 23
  • grind - v. to crush or break (something) into very small pieces