VOA慢速英语2020 宇宙飞船拍下有史以来距离太阳最近的图像（在线收听）

A European and NASA spacecraft has sent back the closest pictures ever taken of the sun's surface. They show the surface has thousands of small solar flares, or what scientists are calling "campfires."

欧洲和美国国家航空航天局（简称NASA）合作研制的宇宙飞船传回了有史以来距离太阳表面最近的照片。这些照片显示，太阳表面有数千个小型太阳耀班，或科学家称为的“营火”。

Scientists released the first images taken by Solar Orbiter last week. The spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida in February.

科学家上周公布了太阳轨道器拍到的首批图像。这艘宇宙飞船于今年2月从佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角发射升空。

The orbiter was around 77 million kilometers away from the sun — about halfway between Earth and the sun — when it took the pictures.

拍摄照片时，轨道器距离太阳约7700万公里，这大约是太阳和地球之间距离的一半。

Solar Orbiter's pictures are the first images from so close to the sun's surface. They show colored swirls — bright yellow and dark gray.

太阳轨道器拍摄的照片是首批如此接近太阳表面的照片。这些照片显示出彩色漩涡——亮黄色和暗灰色。

Daniel Müller is a European Space Agency project scientist. He told The Associated Press (AP) that the research team had to create a new term for the small flares: campfires.

丹尼尔·穆勒是欧洲航天局的项目科学家。他对美联社（简称AP）表示，研究小组必须为这种小型耀斑创造出一个新术语：营火。

Müller described the many "campfires" as quite possibly "the tiny cousins of the solar flares that we already know."

穆勒称许多“营火”很可能是“我们已经知道的太阳耀斑的小表亲”。

These small flares could help explain why the sun's outer covering — the corona — is 300 times hotter than the star's surface. But scientists are waiting for more information from Solar Orbiter's other instruments to know for sure.

这些小型耀斑有助于解释为何太阳的外层——日冕——比太阳表面的温度高30倍。但科学家正在等待太阳轨道器的其他仪器提供更多信息，帮助他们进行确认。

David Berghmans is with the Royal Observatory of Belgium. He was the lead scientist who developed the instrument that took the images. Berghmans told the AP that, "When the first images came in, my first thought was, 'This is not possible — it can't be that good.'"

大卫·伯格曼斯来自比利时皇家天文台。他是首席科学家，研制出了拍下这些图像的设备。伯格曼斯对美联社表示，“当首批图像传来时，我的第一个想法是，‘这不可能——不可能那么好’。”

He added, "It was really much better than we expected, but what we dared to hope for."

他补充说，“这确实大大超出我们的预期，但在我们敢于期待的范围内。”

The $1.5 billion spacecraft will move even closer to the sun's surface in the next two years. The spacecraft will change its orbit as the mission goes on. This will make it possible for Solar Orbiter to take the first pictures of the solar poles.

这艘耗资15亿美元的宇宙飞船将在未来两年继续接近太阳表面。该飞船将随着任务的进行而改变其轨道。这将使太阳轨道器有可能拍到太阳两极的首批照片。

Solar Orbiter also carries plasma-sampling instruments to offer researchers additional information about the sun.

太阳轨道器还携带着等离子体取样仪器，可为研究人员提供更多有关太阳的信息。

Project scientist Holly Gilbert notes, "That combination (of instruments) really allows us to make links and connections to what's happening on the sun and what's happening at the spacecraft."

项目科学家霍利·吉尔伯特指出，“这种仪器组合使人们能将太阳上发生的情况和宇宙飞船上发生的事情联系起来。”

Gilbert is with NASA, the U.S. government's civilian space program.

吉尔伯特来自美国政府负责民用太空计划的机构——美国国家航空航天局（简称NASA）。

Solar Orbiter's main mission of examining the sun's polar areas will help researchers understand the causes of solar wind — electrically charged particles that go through our solar system. Solar wind can affect satellites and electronics on Earth.

太阳轨道器的主要任务是检查太阳两极区域，这将有助于研究人员理解太阳风的成因，太阳风是穿过太阳系的带电粒子。太阳风可以影响地球上的卫星和电子设备。

"This is just the beginning of the long epic journey of Solar Orbiter," Müller said.

穆勒表示，“这只是太阳轨道器史诗般漫长旅程的开始。”

I'm John Russell.

约翰·拉塞尔报道。