中英文本

WRITERS of science fiction have long assumed that the galaxy is teeming with alien planets.
科幻小说的作家们一直都认为星系中存在异形星球jMcxT27x&C。
They were correct, but it was only in the past few decades that science has been able to confirm this.
他们没错，只是过了几十年后科学界才得以证实这一想法90bK5va93V!~jw]INBBU。
The first exoplanet was discovered in 1992, but the floodgates really opened in 2009, with the launch of Kepler, a planet-hunting space probe.
首个系外行星发现于1992年，但是直到2009年，开普勒星球探测器发射后，系外行星的大门才真的被打开4&9X*eaUR8#~jt^OD。
Thousands have since been found. Statistics suggest that every star in the galaxy—and, presumably, the universe—has at least one.
自此有上千个系外行星被发现RfVxz8p;V!zvCDiLg7~r。数据显示星系—以及，或许宇宙—中的每颗星星至少有一系外行星xyJeR+.lx-+MPq3WP.。
Kepler's fuel is now almost exhausted, and the probe is nearing the end of its life.
开普勒的燃料现在几乎消耗殆尽，这个探测器也将退役xy%)]4B90hz[P*。
But a paper published by AlexTeachey and David Kipping in Science Advances suggests
但是亚历克斯·提奇和大卫·基平发表于《科学进展》上的一篇论文表明

that data it has already collected may confirm another science-fiction assumption—that alien planets have alien moons.
其已收集的数据或许可以证实另一个科幻小说猜想—异形星球上有异形卫星#Fu#!!XUus2w6R。
In a way, this is not surprising. Few astronomers would have bet against the existence of exomoons.
在某种程度上，这一点也不意外D5%o+Wrv%BMjrh。几乎没有宇航员会打赌外星系不存在卫星@1Nc%u+H6o)。
But they might have been sceptical that Kepler was sensitive enough to spot any. What's more, the moon that Drs Teachey and Kipping propose is strikingly strange.
但他们或许一直怀疑，开普勒足够敏感可以探测任何迹象U-Y7y@]XWN。而且，提奇和基平博士提出的这种卫星非常奇怪8xFTR*]YP_。
To find their moon, the two researchers sifted through data from 284 different exoplanets that Kepler had spotted.
为了找到他们的这种卫星，两名研究人员从开普勒探测到的284种不同系外行星中筛选数据@WWWj@10)V5N!。
The probe works by monitoring hundreds of thousands of stars,
探测器的工作是监控成千上万个恒星，
watching for tiny, repeated drops in their brightness caused by a planet moving in front of the star's disk.
守候那些因行星在星盘前边的移动而造成的微妙反复的光度变化vSf9mkfUZ)rN~7j。
A planet with a moon should produce a subtly different signal,
有卫星的星球应该会产生一种稍微不同的信号
with the moon causing a second, much smaller dip just before or just after the one caused by the planet.
在行星造成倾斜前后，卫星也会导致再次造成更微妙的倾斜y2vbXP+YY@z@whl![。
Spotting such tiny flickers is on the edge of Kepler's capabilities.
探测到如此微小的闪烁，探测器可能无能为力)cV6&B-e5VknuS。
Nonetheless, Dr Teachey and Dr Kipping found one promising looking planet, with the unromantic name of Kepler-1625b.
尽管如此，提奇和基平博士还是发现了一颗很有希望的行星，它有一个很平庸的名字—Kepler-1625b~#4vX!0Fh__yd。

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词语解释

1.assume 假设
It is a misconception to assume that the two continents are similar.
假设这两块大陆类似是种错误概念eC!_k]yB#q)|1e。
2.presumably 大概
The spear is presumably the murder weapon.
这矛很可能就是凶器KP[f-R~wD20MSE25。
3.science fiction 科幻小说
The border between science fact and science fiction gets a bit fuzzy.
科学事实和科幻小说之间的界限变得有点儿模糊了E&MYY1fIq6Eqj7]);。
4.sensitive 敏感的
Young people are very sensitive about their appearance.
年轻人对自己的外貌很敏感#O&g9(qVG^。