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Back in 1958, at the dawn of the space age, physicist James Van Allen discovered that the Earth is ringed by high-energy charged particles. Held in place by the planet's magnetic field, these bands of radiation were named the inner and outer Van Allen Belts. They're of particular interest to NASA as they pose a potential danger to spacecraft.
回到1958年，在和平歲月的曙光到來之際，物理學(xué)家詹姆斯·范·艾倫發(fā)現(xiàn)地球周圍環(huán)繞著高能的帶電粒子。這些輻射帶依靠地球磁場(chǎng)來保持在太空中的位置，它們被命名為內(nèi)外范艾倫輻射帶。因?yàn)檩椛鋷?duì)飛船有潛在的危害，所以美航局對(duì)它特別關(guān)注。
Now a NASA mission also named for Van Allen has found something new about his belts. By looping through them repeatedly, the twin Van Allen Probes discovered a third band of radiation.
目前美航局的一項(xiàng)同樣以范艾倫命名的計(jì)劃又有了一個(gè)新發(fā)現(xiàn)。美航局發(fā)射的兩個(gè)范艾倫探測(cè)器重復(fù)在空中作環(huán)狀飛行時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)了第三個(gè)輻射帶。
Or at least there were three. The two spacecraft uncovered the previously unknown structure in September. It consisted of fast-moving electrons, situated between the two previously known Van Allen Belts. The discovery was reported in the journal Science.
或者說至少還有第三個(gè)輻射帶。9月份這兩個(gè)飛行器發(fā)現(xiàn)了之前未知的結(jié)構(gòu)。它由快速移動(dòng)的電子組成，位于已為人們所熟知的兩個(gè)范艾倫帶之間。這一發(fā)現(xiàn)被《科學(xué)》雜志發(fā)表報(bào)道。
But the new structure is no longer. Four weeks after the probes found it, the third ring was wiped out by a strong shock wave emanating from the sun. Still, the unexpected finding shows that the Van Allen Belts are more complex and variable than had been assumed. And that seemingly well-established knowledge about space still may have the capacity to surprise.
但這個(gè)新結(jié)構(gòu)已不復(fù)存在。在探測(cè)到這一結(jié)構(gòu)四個(gè)星期之后，太陽發(fā)射的強(qiáng)烈沖擊波將之化為幻影。不過這一意外的發(fā)現(xiàn)表明范艾倫帶比之前想象的更復(fù)雜，更多變。人類對(duì)宇宙的探索在日趨完善，將來可能會(huì)有更多的驚喜。
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