为什么詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜如此重要的5个原因

1. It's powerful.

它是很强大的

"It is the biggest, most powerful telescope ever to be put in space. There are big telescopes on the ground but nothing of this nature and complexity in space. Hands down, it's the most powerful thing out there." The Webb is the successor to Hubble, and it's 100 times more powerful. Webb also has a much bigger mirror than Hubble, explains the Webb telescope site: "This larger light-collecting area means that Webb can peer farther back into time than Hubble is capable of doing. Hubble is in a very close orbit around the earth, while Webb will be 1.5 million kilometers away."

“这是有史以来体积最大、功能最强大的太空望远镜，地面上有大型望远镜，但在太空中没有这种性质和复杂性。毫无疑问，它是最强大的。”韦伯是哈勃的继承者，它的威力是哈勃的100倍。韦伯望远镜的网站解释说，韦伯还有一个比哈勃大得多的镜子：“这个更大的光收集区域意味着韦伯可以比哈勃更深入地观察时间。哈勃在离地球非常近的轨道上，而韦伯将在150万公里之外。”

2. It's a time machine of sorts.

它是一台时光机

"Hubble, when pushed to its maximum, could see galaxies that were teenagers in terms of age. We want to see babies," Bullock says. "With the Webb, we will be able to see back in time to the earliest objects in the universe for the first time. Also for the first time, we will be able to characterize other planets going around other stars, distant exoplanets, and see if there are oceans, an atmosphere, what chemical elements are there."

“哈勃望远镜被推到最大时，可以看到从年龄上算还处于青少年时期的星系。我们想看到婴儿。”布洛克说，“有了韦伯，我们将能够第一次看到宇宙中最早的物体，同时，我们也将第一次能够描述围绕其他恒星运行的其他行星，遥远的系外行星，看看是否有海洋、大气层，以及那里有什么化学元素。”

3. It will help us map the universe.

它能帮助人类了解宇宙

"The Webb telescope won't be able to decisively say there's definitely life on a planet or not, but it begins to map out that space and say, 'That may be an ocean there,' which gives us a road map to probe further and really investigate." Webb will peer into the universe in the infrared, which is important because newly forming stars and planets are hidden behind dust that absorbs visible light — but infrared light can penetrate that dust.

“韦伯望远镜并不能果断地判断一个星球上是否有生命，但是它可以标示出某个星空并告诉我们‘这里可能有海洋’，这可以给我们一个深入研究调查的方向。”韦伯在红外线模式下可以探究宇宙，这是很重要的，因为新形成的恒星和行星都藏在吸收了可见光线的灰尘后面，红外线可以穿透灰尘。

4. And it may help us find the next Earth.

它可能会帮助我们找到下一个“地球”

"We're planning to investigate the nature of dark energy in the universe, and understand the nature of these very old objects. And characterizing planets around other suns puts us on the path to finding out if there’s another Earth out there." The Webb will also assist in the hunt for exoplanets, something that Hubble does but was not designed for, according to Space.com.

“我们计划研究宇宙中暗能量的性质，并了解这些非常古老的物体的性质，对其他太阳周围的行星进行表征，使我们走上了探索是否有另一个地球存在的道路。”韦伯望远镜还将协助寻找系外行星，据Space.com网站报道，哈勃望远镜的任务是寻找系外行星，但它的设计初衷并非如此。

5. It's a technological coup.

它是一场技术革命

"It has the potential to fundamentally rewrite our textbooks because of how dramatically it will increase our view of the cosmos," Bullock says. "We will be able to get a much better grasp of the universe we live in. Technology-wise, we are already seeing the implications."

“它有从根本上重写我们教科书的潜力，因为它可以显著地增加我们对宇宙的认识。”布洛克说，“我们将会对我们生存的宇宙有更深的了解。在技术层面上，我们已经看到了预示。”