13个最伟大天文发现(下).docVIP

13个最伟大的天文发现(下) 　　为纪念伽利略首次使用望远镜进行天文观测400周年,在国际天文学联合会和联合国教科文组织的共同倡议下,联合国大会将2009年正式定为国际天文年,并将其主题定为“探索我们的宇宙”。终于迎来最后三个发现了!小编们松了一口气,估计同学们也大呼“解脱”了吧?持续三期的专题内容,啃下来虽然有点吃力,但本次专题确实是不错的语音和写作学习材料―把这上、中、下三期文章的声音连着脱稿听一遍,学习主持人如何将13个天文发现完美无瑕、环环相扣地娓娓道来。同学们也不妨边听边做记录,试着根据笔记将发现者及发现内容按照时间顺序简要复述出来。前两期发现内容请查阅CE: Teens 2009年7、8月号。 　　 　　Gamma Ray Bursts 　　Discoverer: U.S. scientists 　　The coming of the “space age” ushered[引领] in a golden age of astronomy that is still going on today. That golden age began, strangely enough, not in space but with the turning point in cold war relations, that also contributed to our next great discovery. 　　In the 1960s, despite a nuclear test ban treaty, The Soviet Union refused to allow on-site[现场的] inspectors at its nuclear facilities. As a result, the U.S. opted[选择] 　　to monitor the Soviets by developing an orbital satellite 　　system, capable of detecting gamma ray bursts 　　produced by nuclear explosions. Because the satellite’s detectors looked up as well as down, scientists decided to use them to see if supernovae[超新星] produced gamma rays when they exploded. Between 1969 and 1972, they detected evidence of 16 short gamma ray bursts scattered across the sky. There was just one problem. None of the bursts correlated[相互关联] with any of the known supernova events. And the mystery deepened. 　　Over the next two decades, astronomers detected an average of one gamma ray burst a day, but each burst happened so quickly that it was over before astronomers could get a telescope aimed at it. Finally, astronomers 　　began to solve the puzzle with the help of the BeppoSAX注1 　　space telescope, which was designed specifically to 　　detect short bursts of gamma and X-rays and precisely pinpoint[精确定位] their locations. 　　On December 14th, 1997, BeppoSAX located a gamma ray burst, leading to the first photographs ever taken of a burst in wavelengths other than gamma. To their astonishment, astronomers discovered that the burst took place in a galaxy 12 billion ligh