英语听力：自然百科 穿越银河系的旅行 Through Milky Way—14

 It’s a stunning¹ location, but it’s also mysterious. These stars are not just close together. They are on the move at enormous speeds. 

Going to the heart of a galaxy² might not be the similar to going to an amusement park. The rides are some similar to how the stars orbit/ some of the galaxies³, 10 million miles per hour compared to, say, our sun, is about a factor of 50 times faster. So something has to be going on at the center of our galaxy to make that happen.

 

The heart of our galaxy lies 26,000 light years away. It’s difficult to observe through the vast amount of stars, gas and dust. And there is something else which obscures the view, the earth’s atmosphere. 

 

By measuring how a laser beam may be distorted in /moving air, it’s possible to compensate⁴ for the atmosphere’s blurring⁵ effect, a process called adaptive optics. 

 

So let me show you an example of how powerful adaptive optics is. The stars that we want to see are the ones at the very center, we think the heart of the galaxy is right within the center. This box which is pointed⁶ out here, without / adaptive optics, this region looks completely blurry⁷, you don’t see the individual stars; with / adaptive optics, you see the individual stars.

 

For 15 years, Andrea has been taking infrared⁸ images of the stars at the center of the galaxy to produce an extraordinary time-lapse film. 

 

So if we zoom⁹ in to the very heart of the galaxy, we can actually see the data that we’ve taken over the last 15 years, and you can see the stars, you can see the tremendous motions that they’ve gone through. Particular, SO2 which is my favorite star, every astronomer¹⁰ has a favorite one. You can see SO2 goes around, and particularly you can see as it gets to the center of the frame, it moves much more quickly. So something is interesting as it goes through that region. So putting everything together, all the measurements that we’ve made, we’ve been able to make an animation¹¹ that shows how the stars have moved toward the course of 15 years.

1 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

2 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

3 galaxies   

星系( galaxy的名词复数 )； 银河系； 一群（杰出或著名的人物）

参考例句：

• Quasars are the highly energetic cores of distant galaxies. 类星体是遥远星系的极为活跃的核心体。
• We still don't know how many galaxies there are in the universe. 我们还不知道宇宙中有多少个星系。

4 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

5 blurring   

n.模糊，斑点甚多，（图像的）混乱v.（使）变模糊( blur的现在分词 )；（使）难以区分

参考例句：

• Retinal hemorrhage, and blurring of the optic dise cause visual disturbances. 视网膜出血及神经盘模糊等可导致视力障碍。 来自辞典例句
• In other ways the Bible limited Puritan writing, blurring and deadening the pages. 另一方面，圣经又限制了清教时期的作品，使它们显得晦涩沉闷。 来自辞典例句

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

7 blurry   

adj.模糊的；污脏的，污斑的

参考例句：

• My blurry vision makes it hard to drive. 我的视力有点模糊，使得开起车来相当吃力。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The lines are pretty blurry at this point. 界线在这个时候是很模糊的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。

9 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

10 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。

11 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。