NASA剛剛發(fā)現(xiàn)木星的衛(wèi)星噴出大量水蒸氣

NASA剛剛發(fā)現(xiàn)木星的衛(wèi)星噴出大量水蒸氣

When it comes to candidates for alien life in our solar neighborhood, Europa is the apple of every scientist's eye.

當(dāng)說(shuō)到在我們的太陽(yáng)系附近可能存在外星生命時(shí)，木衛(wèi)二是每個(gè)科學(xué)家一定會(huì)提出的。

Under a thick crust of ice, Europa might have an ocean warmed by tidal interactions with Jupiter. (Photo: NASA/JPL/Ted Stryk)

The moon — one of 79 whirling around Jupiter — has already offered a few tantalizing hints. Earlier this year, a detailed analysis of the satellite revealed that it’s covered in salt, suggesting a vast, very Earth-like ocean beneath its icy enamel.

這顆圍繞木星旋轉(zhuǎn)的79顆衛(wèi)星之一已經(jīng)給出了一些誘人的暗示。今年早些時(shí)候，對(duì)這顆衛(wèi)星的詳細(xì)分析顯示，它被鹽覆蓋，表明在它冰冷的琺瑯質(zhì)下有一個(gè)巨大的、非常像地球的海洋。

And now, NASA is hailing an even bigger breakthrough. According to a research paper published in the journal Nature Astronomy, plumes of water vapor are bursting from the moon’s surface.

現(xiàn)在，美國(guó)宇航局正在歡呼一個(gè)更大的突破。根據(jù)發(fā)表在《自然天文學(xué)》雜志上的一篇研究論文，大量的水蒸氣正從木衛(wèi)二表面噴涌而出。

They’re scarcely detectable from Earth — just one of 17 observations by the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii was able to pick up on a faint plume released from Europa’s surface.

它們?cè)诘厍蛏蠋缀鯚o(wú)法被探測(cè)到——夏威夷W. M. Keck天文臺(tái)的17次觀測(cè)中，只有一次能夠探測(cè)到從木衛(wèi)二表面釋放出的微弱羽狀物。

But it’s enough to dramatically heat up the hunt for life beyond our planet.

但這足以極大地加劇對(duì)地球以外生命的搜尋。

"While scientists have not yet detected liquid water directly, we've found the next best thing: water in vapor form," lead researcher and NASA planetary scientist Lucas Paganini noted in a NASA release.

“雖然科學(xué)家們還沒(méi)有直接探測(cè)到液態(tài)水，但我們已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了下一個(gè)最好的東西:水蒸氣形式的水，”首席研究員、NASA行星科學(xué)家盧卡斯·帕格尼尼在NASA的一次發(fā)布會(huì)上說(shuō)。

And although spectrographs taken by the W. M. Keck Observatory could just barely make out the plumes, scientists say the moon is releasing a massive amount of water vapor — enough to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool within minutes.

盡管W. M. Keck天文臺(tái)的攝譜儀只能勉強(qiáng)分辨出這些羽狀物，但科學(xué)家們說(shuō)，月球正在釋放大量的水蒸氣——幾分鐘內(nèi)就足以填滿(mǎn)一個(gè)奧運(yùn)會(huì)規(guī)模的游泳池。

That adds credence to the suspicion that the ocean lurking beneath Europa’s frozen shell is incredibly vast. NASA suspects that shell is between 10 and 15 miles thick. And below, lies a saltwater ocean that plumbs a dizzying depth of anywhere from 40 to 100 miles. Compare that to the 2.3-mile average depth of Earth’s oceans.

這使人們更加懷疑，在木衛(wèi)二冰凍的外殼下隱藏的海洋是多么的巨大。NASA懷疑，外殼厚度在10到15英里之間。下面是一片咸水海洋，令人眼花繚亂的深度從40英里到100英里不等。相比之下，地球海洋的平均深度為2.3英里。

And suddenly, we’re swimming in all kinds of possibilities.

突然之間，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)了多種可能性。

“We performed diligent safety checks to remove possible contaminants in ground-based observations," Planetary scientist Avi Mandell notes in the NASa statement. “But, eventually, we'll have to get closer to Europa to see what's really going on.

行星科學(xué)家阿維·曼德?tīng)栐贜ASA的聲明中指出:“我們進(jìn)行了仔細(xì)的安全檢查，以清除地面觀測(cè)中可能存在的污染物。”“但是，最終，我們將不得不靠近木衛(wèi)二去看看到底發(fā)生了什么。

NASA is already planning to dip a toe in those waters.

NASA已經(jīng)計(jì)劃涉足這些領(lǐng)域。

The space agency’s Europa Clipper mission could put a spacecraft, brimming with cameras and spectrometers, in Jupiter’s orbit as early as 2023. From there, it will perform 45 flybys of the icy orb, performing the most detailed analysis of the moon’s surface yet.

早在2023年，美國(guó)宇航局的木衛(wèi)二快船任務(wù)就能將一艘裝有攝像機(jī)和光譜儀的宇宙飛船送入木星軌道。在那里，它將對(duì)這個(gè)冰冷的星球進(jìn)行45次飛掠，對(duì)木衛(wèi)二表面進(jìn)行迄今為止最詳細(xì)的分析。