How Asteroid 1950 DA Keeps It Together.doc

How Asteroid 1950 DA Keeps It Together 碎陨石是如何凝聚成”1950DA” 小行星的? From the depths of space, an asteroid hurtles toward Earth. [Well, our general vicinity.] But this is no ordinary hunk of galactic debris. Because the body of this asteroid seems to defy gravity. It’s bound by forces never observed on this scale in space. 在太空深处，一颗小行星急速冲向地球。这并不是一大块普通的银河碎片，因为这颗小行星似乎不受重力的影响。在太空中，它所受到的这种规模的凝聚力，是前所未有的。 That’s not the plot of a new summer blockbuster. It’s the result of a study in the journal Nature. [Ben Rozitis, Eric MacLennan and Joshua P. Emery: Cohesive forces prevent the rotational breakup of rubble-pile asteroid (29075) 1950 DA] 这不是暑期大片中的一个情节，这是《自然》杂志上一项研究的研究结果。 The asteroid in question is actually a kilometer-sized collection of rubble. In most cases, such space-faring pebble piles are held together by a combination of gravity and friction. But not so for our rocky interloper, dubbed “1950 DA.” This asteroid is rotating so rapidly that its pieces should have flung apart long ago. 我们所讨论的这个小行星实际上是一个一公里大小的碎石堆。大多数情况下，这种太空碎石堆是被重力和摩擦力凝聚到一起的。但是我们眼前的这个被命名为“1950DA”的岩石入侵者却不是，该行星可以旋转的如此迅速，按说其中的碎石块早就该被甩散了。 Now, by analyzing the 1950 DA’s temperature and density, researchers conclude that cohesive forces called van der Waals attractions must be keeping the pieces clustered. Van der Waals forces may sound mysterious, but they’re well known on the small scale for their weak influence within and between molecules. 现在，通过分析“1950DA”的温度和密度，研究人员得出结论称，这股凝聚力叫做范德华引力，范德华引力可能听起来神秘，但其实它因能在小规模内对分子或分子之间起到微弱影响而出名。 Blasting the asteroid, Hollywood style, could overcome these forces. But that might leave us with hundreds of smaller killer space rocks to dodge. The good news is, the asteroid won’t be in our area until 2880. So we have some time to figure it out. —Karen Hopkin 对小行星实行爆破，这是好莱坞大片的一贯风格，或许可以摆脱掉这些力量。但是这样，我们就得去躲避这数以百计的较小型的太空岩石杀手。而好消息就是，该小行星到2880年才会出现在我们的区域中。因此，我们还有一些时间来找出答案。——凯伦·霍普金 听力课堂,开放式英语学习平台！www.TingC 学英语，练听力，上听力课堂。【免费英语听力下载】 - 2 -