美国国家公共电台 NPR Chile And Telescopes Are A Match Made In Heaven

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The Atacama Desert in Chile is one of the driest places in the world. And dry is good for radio telescopes because it lets them see the heavens more clearly. NPR science correspondent Joe Palca reports on an array of some five dozen radio telescopes that provide a unique view of the universe.

JOE PALCA, BYLINE¹: The telescopes look like large, steerable² satellite dishes. They're in a part of the desert that's 16,000 feet above sea level.

This is just such a strange place because you're sort of standing³ in the middle of a high plateau. There's some rolling ridges⁴ off around the side, and dotting all over the landscape are these radio telescopes.

Dotting is the word because these radio dishes aren't all packed together. Any two of them can be as much as 10 miles apart. The thin air makes it hard for humans to work at 16,000 feet, so ALMA's main control room is at a lower altitude - a mere⁵ 9,500 feet above sea level. The day I visited, Ignacio Toledo was the astronomer⁶ on duty.

IGNACIO TOLEDO: In the control room, what we do is to operate the telescope, the ALMA observatory⁷.

PALCA: Operating the telescope means deciding what the dishes are pointing at and monitoring atmospheric⁸ conditions, especially the amount of water vapor⁹. ALMA can see radiation coming from things like dust and gas, but water vapor acts like a cloud, blocking the signal.

TOLEDO: The lower the value, the better the observations, and right now, it's pretty good.

PALCA: ALMA is very popular with astronomers¹⁰. Toledo says more want to use it than the facility can accommodate.

TOLEDO: In total, they were requesting around 16,000 hours. And we can only give 4,000, so they do a selection based on the scientific merits of the project.

PALCA: On the day I visited, the telescope was pointing at an object an astronomer named David Principe wanted to study. Toledo told me Principe would receive an email letting him know his turn had come up. So when I got back to my desk at NPR HQ, I checked in with Principe.

DAVID PRINCIPE: I was sitting on a beach in Nantucket, and I got the email. And I was surprised because my cell phone had very little reception.

PALCA: He was at the beach because his observing time happened to fall on the Fourth of July. Principe uses ALMA to study star formation.

PRINCIPE: The earliest stages of a star's life.

PALCA: In those early stages, the star is surrounded by a thick ring of dust, something that ALMA is particularly good at seeing.

PRINCIPE: And this ring is ultimately where planets are forming.

PALCA: You can't actually see the planet, but you can see a gap in the ring where the planet's gravity has cleared away the material. Like almost all of ALMA's users, Principe didn't travel to the observatory when his measurements were being made. At some point, he'll receive a large data file containing his results that he can study in a computer in his office. ALMA astronomer Ignacio Toledo says this remote capability¹¹ takes some of the magic out of observing with a telescope.

TOLEDO: It's less romantic, yes. But at least for me, and I think for most of the people here, they work in this feeling that what we're doing is something awesome¹².

PALCA: Learning how the universe is put together does have an awesome component¹³ to it.

Joe Palca, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF ZIMBO TRIO'S "INúTIL PAISAGEM")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 steerable   

可驾驶的，易操纵的；可控

参考例句：

• The MBHW04 is the first well using geometry steerable drilling technology in China. 新疆油田MBHW04水平井是国内第一口使用地质导向钻井技术的井。 来自互联网

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 ridges   

n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊

参考例句：

• The path winds along mountain ridges. 峰回路转。
• Perhaps that was the deepest truth in Ridges's nature. 在里奇斯的思想上，这大概可以算是天经地义第一条了。

5 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

6 astronomer   

n.天文学家

参考例句：

• A new star attracted the notice of the astronomer.新发现的一颗星引起了那位天文学家的注意。
• He is reputed to have been a good astronomer.他以一个优秀的天文学者闻名于世。

7 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

8 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

9 vapor   

n.蒸汽，雾气

参考例句：

• The cold wind condenses vapor into rain.冷风使水蒸气凝结成雨。
• This new machine sometimes transpires a lot of hot vapor.这部机器有时排出大量的热气。

10 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• 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。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

12 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

13 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。