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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.
科學家們一直在其他星球尋找像地球一樣的行星。可是到目前為 止像地球一樣的行星根本就不存在，完全不在系統之內。
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.
在一個新的研究中，天文學家們發現一個叫做“火熱木星”的行星群。這些如木星大小的行星大概是3天左右的軌道運行期，科學家們試圖從63顆這樣的行星中找到像地球一樣的行星，結果是徒勞的。
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，或者現有的技術不能觀察他們，因此研究人員開始觀察“火熱海王星”和“熱情木星”，這種木星的運行周期稍微有些長，他們發現222顆“火熱海王星”中有2顆值得進一步地研究，同理31顆“熱情木星”中發現有5顆也值得研究。以上是美國國家科學院的發現。
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.
當前的研究顯示了“火熱木星”的形成以及向恒星的遷移。研究人員表示這種遷移可能會阻礙它們形成類似地球的行星。好消息是我們的木星保持冷靜。
