VOA常速英语2014--寻找宇宙中最冷的物体

Scientists Looking at Coldest Objects in Universe 寻找宇宙中最冷的物体

Astronomers 2 have a new powerful tool for looking deep into space while trying to better understand the origins of the universe.  It is a new telescope that will look for signals coming from the coldest objects in deep space. The telescope is called Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array or "ALMA.  The last of its 66-dish antennas 4 has been moved to its site in Chile's high desert

Under an almost always cloudless sky, in Chile's cold and barren Atacama desert, 5,000 meters above sea level and away from any electromagnetic interference,

在智利寒冷荒凉的阿塔卡玛沙漠，天空一丝云朵都没有，这里海波5000多米，远离电磁干扰，

ALMA’s dish antennas listen to signals coming from distant cold objects.

ALMA望远镜的碟形天线正接受来自远方寒冷物体的信号。

Even the coldest matter in space, such as dust and gas, emit signals between infrared 5 light and radio waves, with wavelengths 6 smaller than a millimeter.

即使是太空中最寒冷的物质，比如尘埃和气体，都能释放红外线和无线广播之间的各种信号，其波长短于一毫米。

Catching 7 them requires either a dish antenna 3 of enormous proportions, or an array of smaller ones, with a supercomputer to consolidate 8 the data.

捕捉这些信号或者需要巨大的碟形天线，或者是小天线的组合，由超级计算机来整合这些数据。

The equipment that receives those signals must be kept at even colder temperatures, says astronomer 1 Gianni Marconi.

天文学家詹尼·马可尼说，接受这些信号的设备必须被安置在更寒冷的气温下。

“You have to amplify 9 the signal that is really really low in conditions that are really really extreme,

“必须得放大这些非常微弱的信号，

so this is the reason because of our detectors 10 are kept at the minimum temperature possible," he said. "We are few degree above the zero absolute.”

所以我们的探测器被放置在尽可能低的气温下，只比绝对零度高几度。”

Signals from ALMA’s 66 antennas are processed in a supercomputer called Correlator.

ALMA望远镜66个天线接受的信号在名叫Correlator的超级计算机里得到处理，

Electronic engineer Lorenzo Martinez says each of its four parts can process a lot of data.

电子工程师劳伦祖·马丁说这种计算机四个部分都能处理大量数据。

“We have 120 gigabytes per second that is produced in each antenna," he said. "Well, if you do the math, these are astronomical 11 numbers.”

“每个天线每秒钟接受120千兆字节的数据，所以要进行计算，这些就是天文数字。”

It is tricky 12 to combine the signals from several dish antennas.

整合这些来自不同碟形天线的信号很麻烦，

Scientists have to periodically rearrange them in order to find the best configuration 13 with the least amount of radio interference.

科学家必须定期重新设置下天线，从而在最小无线干预的情况下找到最佳配置。

Juan Carlos Salamanca operates a special multi-wheeled transporter called ‘Lore’ to move the antennas across the flat desert floor.

胡安·卡洛斯·萨拉曼卡操纵一辆名叫Lore的特殊多轮运输机，在平坦的沙漠上移动天线。

“One antenna weighs almost 100 tons and you need to transport it to 5,000 meters

“每个天线将近100吨，需要将它们转移5000米，

and the truck needs to have the capability 14 to work without a problem at 5,000 meters,” he said.

卡车就必须在5000米内无故障完成工作。

Marconi says the ALMA telescope will open a new window on the most distant early formed galaxies 15.

马可尼说ALMA望远镜将在最遥远的早期星系中发现新的可能。

“This is what ALMA is doing, giving us a new Horizon looking at the beginning of the universe, at the beginning of the star formation, at the beginning of the formation of our cosmic structure,”he said.

“这就是ALMA在做的事情，让我们能重新认识宇宙的开端，认识恒星形成的开端，认识我们宇宙结构最初的构成。”

ALMA is a joint 16 project funded by Europe, United States, Canada, East Asia and Chile.

ALMA是由欧洲、美国、加拿大、东亚和智利联合发起的项目。