Scientists are looking for Earth-like planets around other stars. But one way to limit the search can be to figure out where an Earth-like planet cannot exist and eliminate those types of systems.
科学家们一直在其他星球寻找像地球一样的行星。可是到目前为 止像地球一样的行星根本就不存在,完全不在系统之内。
In a new study, astronomers turned their attention to so-called hot Jupiters. These are Jupiter-sized planets that have an orbit of only about three days. The scientists looked at 63 hot Jupiters to see if they could find evidence for any nearby Earth-like planets. They found none.
在一个新的研究中,天文学家们发现一个叫做“火热木星”的行星群。这些如木星大小的行星大概是3天左右的轨道运行期,科学家们试图从63颗这样的行星中找到像地球一样的行星,结果是徒劳的。
But it could be that the companion planets are too small in size or mass or just aren’t detectable with the current techniques. So the researchers then turned to hot Neptunes, and warm Jupiters—these are Jupiters with slightly longer orbits. They found only 2 potential nearby planets among 222 hot Neptures. And of the 31 warm Jupiters, five showed evidence of a companion. The findings are in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Jason H. Steffen, Kepler constraints on planets near hot Jupiters]
然而附近的行星不是太大就是太小,或者现有的技术不能观察他们,因此研究人员开始观察“火热海王星”和“热情木星”,这种木星的运行周期稍微有些长,他们发现222颗“火热海王星”中有2颗值得进一步地研究,同理31颗“热情木星”中发现有5颗也值得研究。以上是美国国家科学院的发现。
The current theory is that hot Jupiters formed and then migrated in towards their stars. The researchers say that the migration might have “disrupted the formation of Earth-like planets.” Good thing our Jupiter kept its cool.
当前的研究显示了“火热木星”的形成以及向恒星的迁移。研究人员表示这种迁移可能会阻碍它们形成类似地球的行星。好消息是我们的木星保持冷静。
来源:可可英语 http://www.kekenet.com/broadcast/201205/182164.shtml