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Our Milky Way galaxy has two large satellite galaxies orbiting it. They're known as the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. And humans have been aware of the existence of these celestial objects for at least a millennium.
有兩大衛星星系環繞著我們的銀河系轉動。它們以大小麥哲倫云為人們所知。人類意識到這些天體的存在至少有一千年了。
Recently, researchers were curious about whether our configuration is fairly typical, or an astronomical anomaly. In other words, is our corner of the cosmos ordinary?
近期，研究者對銀河系的構造表示好奇。我們的星系是非常典型的宇宙產物，還是異常的天文現象？換句話說，我們這個宇宙的一角平常嗎？
Now a new study finds that the Milky Way and its companion galaxies are an unusual combination, but they're not one of a kind.
現今，一項新的研究發現銀河系及其衛星星系是不同尋常的組合。但也不是獨一無二的。
Astronomers in the U.K. and Australia looked at thousands of galaxies to try to find an analogue of our arrangement. The search turned up two close replicas: each with a Milky Way–like galaxy accompanied by two galaxies comparable to the Magellanic Clouds.
英國和澳洲的天文學家觀察了上千個星系，試圖找到另一處類似于銀河系的排列。這次研究找到了兩個類似的星系：每個星系均像銀河系一樣，環繞著能與麥哲倫云相媲美的衛星星系。
But the researchers also concluded that such arrangements are pretty rare. Only half a percent of Milky Way–like galaxies have companions like ours.
但研究人員也作出結論，這樣在排列方式相當少見。只有0.5%的星系像我們銀河系一樣有同伴。
The Magellanic Clouds may be transitory features. In a few billion years the Milky Way may absorb them completely. So someday our corner of the cosmos could be pretty ordinary after all.
麥哲倫云可能是暫時性的天文特征。再過幾十億年，銀河就會完全將它們吞沒。因此，到那天我們這個宇宙一角會變得很普通。
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