NASA’s New Horizons Shows Image of Snowman-Like Object

美国宇航局新视野号发回雪人状天体的图像

Scientists say images from NASA's spacecraft New Horizons show a snowman-like object in the cold, icy part of our solar system.

科学家表示，美国宇航局新视野号宇宙飞船传回的图片展示了在我们太阳系冰冷地带一个类似雪人的天体。

The "snowman," named Ultima Thule, orbits an area known as the Kuiper Belt. The area has hundreds of thousands of objects that could hold the keys to understanding the beginning of our solar system.

这个名为Ultima Thule的“雪人”在柯伊伯带上空运行。这个地区有数十万个天体，它们可能保留了我们了解太阳系诞生之初的关键信息。

Jeff Moore leads the New Horizons' geology team. He said the spacecraft "is like a time machine, taking us back to the birth of the solar system."

杰夫·摩尔(Jeff Moore)领导了新视野项目的地质团队。他说，这艘宇宙飞船“就像是一台时间机器，将我们带回太阳系的诞生之时。”

Early images show that Ultima Thule is about 31 kilometers by 19 kilometers. Alan Stern, the lead investigator for the mission, said, "It's two completely different objects that are now joined together."

早期的图像显示，Ultima Thule的尺寸大约是31公里乘19公里。这次任务的首席调查员艾伦·斯特恩(Alan Stern)：“这是两个完全不同的天体，现在已经连接到了一起。”

Ultima Thule likely formed as a rotating cloud of small, icy objects started to combine. Over time, two larger objects remained and slowly joined together in what scientists called "contact binary." The mission team named the larger object "Ultima" and the smaller one "Thule."

Ultima Thule可能是在小型、冰冷天体的旋转云开始结合时形成的。随着时间推移，这两个较大的天体继续存在，并慢慢了结合成为了科学家们所谓的“密接双星。”该任务团队将较大的天体命名为Ultima，较小的天体命名为Thule。

In the early hours of January 1, the New Horizons spacecraft flew by Ultima Thule. The fly-by took place at 05:33 UTC. But the signal to confirm the spacecraft's location did not reach Earth until 10 hours later.

1月1日凌晨，新视野号宇宙飞船飞掠了Ultima Thule，时间是在协调世界时的5点33分。但是确认宇宙飞船位置的信号直到10小时后才抵达地球。

When New Horizons left Earth in 2006, scientists did not even know about Ultima Thule's existence.

当新视野号于2006年离开地球时，科学家们甚至不知道Ultima Thule的存在。

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine congratulated NASA's New Horizons team, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and the Southwest Research Institute for "making history."

美国宇航局局长吉姆·布里登斯坦(Jim Bridenstine)对新视野号团队、约翰·霍普金斯大学应用物理实验室以及西南研究所“创造历史”表示了祝贺。

He said, "In addition to being the first to explore Pluto, today New Horizons flew by the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft and became the first to directly explore an object that holds remnants from the birth of our solar system."

他说：“你们是最早探测冥王星的团队，今天新视野号又飞掠了迄今为止宇宙飞船造访过的最遥远的天体，你们又成为了首个直接探测留有太阳系诞生之初遗留物的天体的团队。”

The spacecraft will continue sending images and other data over the next 20 months. The New Horizons team is already pushing for another flyby in the 2020s while the spacecraft systems are still working.

这艘宇宙飞船在未来20个月将会继续发回图像和其它数据。新视野团队已经开始推动在21世纪20年代再次进行飞掠，到时该宇宙飞船系统仍在运转。

I'm Jonathan Evans.

乔纳森·埃文斯报道。

[Scientists say images from NASA’s spacecraft New Horizons show a snowman-like object in the cold, icy part of our solar system.

The “snowman,” named Ultima Thule, orbits an area known as the Kuiper Belt. The area has hundreds of thousands of objects that could hold the keys to understanding the beginning of our solar system.

Jeff Moore leads the New Horizons’ geology team. He said the spacecraft “is like a time machine, taking us back to the birth of the solar system.”

Early images show that Ultima Thule is about 31 kilometers by 19 kilometers. Alan Stern, the lead investigator for the mission, said, “It’s two completely different objects that are now joined together.”

Ultima Thule likely formed as a rotating cloud of small, icy objects started to combine. Over time, two larger objects remained and slowly joined together in what scientists called “contact binary.” The mission team named the larger object “Ultima” and the smaller one “Thule.”

#UltimaThule used to be 2 separate objects. It likely formed over time as a rotating cloud of small, icy bodies started to combine. Eventually, 2 larger bodies remained & slowly spiraled closer until they touched, forming the bi-lobed object we see today: https://t.co/ZuxLDtzW9c pic.twitter.com/FwWDAaAdey

— NASA (@NASA) January 2, 2019

In the early hours of January 1, the New Horizons spacecraft flew by Ultima Thule. The fly-by took place at 05:33 UTC. But the signal to confirm the spacecraft’s location did not reach Earth until 10 hours later.

When New Horizons left Earth in 2006, scientists did not even know about Ultima Thule’s existence.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine congratulated NASA's New Horizons team, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and the Southwest Research Institute for “making history.”

He said, “In addition to being the first to explore Pluto, today New Horizons flew by the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft and became the first to directly explore an object that holds remnants from the birth of our solar system.”

The spacecraft will continue sending images and other data over the next 20 months. The New Horizons team is already pushing for another flyby in the 2020s while the spacecraft systems are still working.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

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Words in This Story

binary - adj. relating to or consisting of two things or parts

location - n. a place or position