VOA慢速英语2019--美高中生NASA实习第三天发现新行星

Teen Discovers Planet on Day Three of Internship³

Call it luck, but not "dumb luck."

Just three days into Wolf Cukier's summer internship with the American space agency NASA, he found a new planet.

The 17-year-old high school student was tasked with looking through data from a telescope in search of evidence of planets outside our solar system.

"I was pretty much spending my summer looking at graphs on a computer screen."

And on his third day with NASA, Cukier found it -- a previously⁴ unknown planet orbiting two stars.

Cukier was looking at data produced by NASA's Transiting⁵ Exoplanet Survey Satellite, known as TESS. Although he did not see the physical planet, he saw clear evidence of it.

"I couldn't say that I was confident it was a planet because it was day three on the job. And I couldn't say anything with confidence quite yet. But out of the hundred different targets that I looked at, I remember I put about 10 asterisks⁷ next to this one, saying this one looks good, we should look at this one first."

The planet is 1,300 light years from Earth.

What Cukier had found was evidence of changes in the light of the two stars, called binary⁸ stars. The way scientists "see" such a distant planet is by changes in light. If a planet is moving between the telescope and the star it orbits, it produces an effect similar to an eclipse that we see here on Earth.

In other words, the planet blocks some of the sun's light from the telescope. In graphs and other data, this shows up as a dip -- a line that moves down and then up again.

Later that day, Cukier met with his boss, Veselin Kostov, to go over his find.

The high school student was working with a team of scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, not far from Washington, D.C.

NASA has about 2,000 interns² across the country each year.

Kostov told VOA that Cukier came into his office and told him he had something that "looks interesting."

It was "a really exciting couple of hours" to make sure what they saw "was real," Kostov said.

"Once we were pretty confident that they were mostly real, we reached out to the rest of the team," Kostov said. Other team members found more transits⁹ of the planet, giving them more evidence.

Because the planet is so big, NASA scientists believe it is made of gas, like Saturn¹⁰ or Jupiter. Even if it had been rocky, like Earth, the planet seems to be too close to one of the stars to be able to support life.

A team of NASA scientists, including Cukier, submitted the finding to a scientific journal. The work will be published soon.

Reading scientific journals in his classes at Scarsdale High School in New York is what brought Cukier to his internship at NASA. Under the supervision¹¹ of two high school teachers, he and other students in the program study a science field of their choice. Cukier settled on the field of astrobiology.

He contacted people at NASA to help him gain an internship. While at NASA in the summer of 2018, he studied "Goldilocks" zones—planets that have conditions that could support life.

NASA invited Cukier back the following summer. And that is when he found the planet.

NASA's Kostov holds a doctoral degree from Johns Hopkins University. Both he and Cukier have advice for students wanting to study the stars. First, study physics and math.

Other than that, Cukier says it was both luck and "putting in the hard work" that led to his discovery.

"Yes what I did is impressive, but it also didn't take that many special skills. So, if someone is interested in science, like my age, and even if they don't have training, they should still just reach out to researchers and find something that they can do because almost anyone can look through data looking for dips.

"It just happened to be me, who saw this one."

Since the news broke earlier this month, Cukier has told his story to many media organizations. He says that even though it has been fun, the attention is a "bit overwhelming."

As for his future, Cukier plans to study either physics or astrophysics in college. He hopes to attend Stanford, Princeton or M.I.T., the Massachusetts Institute of Technology next autumn.

But first comes his high school graduation this spring.

Words in This Story

dumb luck – n. informal saying meaning something good happens completely by chance without being planned or deserved

internship – n. a position as an intern¹ to learn on the job

solar system – n. our sun and planets moving around it

graph – n. a drawing that uses a series of dots and lines to show how much or quickly something changes

confident – adj. having a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something : having confidence

asterisk⁶ – n. a symbol * that is used in printed text that can signal importance

eclipse – n. an occasion when the sun looks like it is completely or partially¹² covered with a dark circle because the moon is between the sun and the Earth

impressive – adj. deserving attention, admiration¹³, or respect : making a good impression

overwhelming – adj. very great in number, effect, emotions or force

1 intern   

v.拘禁，软禁；n.实习生

参考例句：

• I worked as an intern in that firm last summer.去年夏天我在那家商行实习。
• The intern bandaged the cut as the nurse looked on.这位实习生在护士的照看下给病人包扎伤口。

2 interns   

n.住院实习医生( intern的名词复数 )v.拘留，关押( intern的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Our interns also greet our guests when they arrive in our studios. 我们的实习生也会在嘉宾抵达演播室的时候向他们致以问候。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• The interns work alongside experienced civil engineers and receive training in the different work sectors. 实习生陪同有经验的国内工程师工作，接受不同工作部门的相关培训。 来自超越目标英语 第4册

3 internship   

n.实习医师，实习医师期

参考例句：

• an internship at a television station 在电视台的实习期
• a summer internship with a small stipend 薪水微薄的暑期实习

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 transiting   

通过（transit的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• The effect of the transiting mechanic required reserve system vehicle is low. 准备金制度的传导机制的作用是很低的。
• I was busy transiting to the telescope. 我正忙着旋转望远镜。

6 asterisk   

n.星号，星标

参考例句：

• The asterisk refers the reader to a footnote.星号是让读者参看脚注。
• He added an asterisk to the first page.他在第一页上加了个星号。

7 asterisks   

n.星号，星状物( asterisk的名词复数 )v.加星号于( asterisk的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He skips asterisks and gives you the gamy details. 他曲解事实，给你一些下流的细节内容。 来自互联网
• Make lists with dashes, asterisks, or bullets if you use HTML email. 如果你写的是HTML格式的邮件，用破折号、星号和子弹号立出清单。 来自互联网

8 binary   

adj.二，双；二进制的；n.双(体)；联星

参考例句：

• Computers operate using binary numbers.计算机运行运用二进位制。
• Let us try converting the number itself to binary.我们试一试，把这个数本身变成二进制数。

9 transits   

通过（transit的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The anomalistic year is the time between successive transits of the Earth through the perihelion. 近点年是地球连续两次通过近日点之间的时间。
• Paradigm study gradually transits to exemplification study in civil society theory. 当前我国的市民社会理论正逐步从范式研究转向范例研究。

10 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• 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。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。

11 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

12 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

13 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。