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科学美国人60秒 SSS 土星光环是最近升级的

时间:2019-12-10 07:06:53

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This is Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.

When it comes to Saturn1, it's the rings that render the planet instantly recognizable. But it turns out that Saturn was not always so elaborately adorned2. Data from the final orbits of the Cassini mission indicate that Saturn's rings were a relatively3 recent addition...forming a scant4 100 to 10 million years ago. The findings are in the journal Science.

During what's been called the "grand finale" phase of the Cassini mission, the spacecraft repeatedly dove through the gap between the top of Saturn's clouds and the innermost edge of its rings. These flybys allowed researchers to separate the gravitational effects of the planet and its accessories...which led to a more precise measurement of the rings' mass.

"Their mass was the missing piece of the puzzle to determine their age."

Daniele Durante, a postdoc at Sapienza University in Italy, who analyzed5 the data.

"The rings are made up mostly of ice with a small fraction of impurities6. About one or two percent of the total rings' mass. These impurities consist of rocky material coming from outer space. Since these impurities are accumulated over time, these allow us to relate the total mass of the rings with their age."

Durante and his colleagues found that Saturn's bling has a combined mass of about one-and-a-half to two times 10 to the 19th kilograms...that's less than half the mass of its smallest moon. And when they crunched7 the numbers, the data suggested an age of no more than 100 million years. To put that in context, remember, dinosaurs8 roamed the earth from about 200 million years ago until 65 million years ago. And Saturn itself, like planet Earth, formed early in the life of the solar system, about 4.5 billion years ago.

"Therefore, the ring's formation came long after that of the planet."

The youthful accoutrement might have come from a captured comet or a pulverized9 moon. But no matter how they were made, the rings really do make Saturn a solar system standout.

Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.


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1 Saturn tsZy1     
n.农神,土星
参考例句:
  • Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪,为什么只有土星有光环。
  • These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们,土星由较轻的物质构成。
2 adorned 1e50de930eb057fcf0ac85ca485114c8     
[计]被修饰的
参考例句:
  • The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
  • And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。
3 relatively bkqzS3     
adv.比较...地,相对地
参考例句:
  • The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
  • The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。
4 scant 2Dwzx     
adj.不充分的,不足的;v.减缩,限制,忽略
参考例句:
  • Don't scant the butter when you make a cake.做糕饼时不要吝惜奶油。
  • Many mothers pay scant attention to their own needs when their children are small.孩子们小的时候,许多母亲都忽视自己的需求。
5 analyzed 483f1acae53789fbee273a644fdcda80     
v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 );分解;解释;对…进行心理分析
参考例句:
  • The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程,因为对他来说,爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 impurities 2626a6dbfe6f229f6e1c36f702812675     
不纯( impurity的名词复数 ); 不洁; 淫秽; 杂质
参考例句:
  • A filter will remove most impurities found in water. 过滤器会滤掉水中的大部分杂质。
  • Oil is refined to remove naturally occurring impurities. 油经过提炼去除天然存在的杂质。
7 crunched adc2876f632a087c0c8d7d68ab7543dc     
v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的过去式和过去分词 );嘎吱作响;(快速大量地)处理信息;数字捣弄
参考例句:
  • Our feet crunched on the frozen snow. 我们的脚嘎吱嘎吱地踩在冻雪上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He closed his jaws on the bones and crunched. 他咬紧骨头,使劲地嚼。 来自英汉文学 - 热爱生命
8 dinosaurs 87f9c39b9e3f358174d58a584c2727b4     
n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 );守旧落伍的人,过时落后的东西
参考例句:
  • The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 pulverized 12dce9339f95cd06ee656348f39bd743     
adj.[医]雾化的,粉末状的v.将…弄碎( pulverize的过去式和过去分词 );将…弄成粉末或尘埃;摧毁;粉碎
参考例句:
  • We pulverized the opposition. 我们彻底击败了对手。
  • He pulverized the opposition with the force of his oratory. 他能言善辩把对方驳得体无完肤。 来自辞典例句

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