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NASA’s Kepler space telescope has discovered three planets that may be able to support life, while one of them is the most earth-like world spotted to date, scientists say.
美國國家航空航天局公開表示，開普勒天文望遠鏡已經發現三顆適合人類居住的星球。并且，科學家稱，其中之一是迄今為止發現最像地球的星球。
Two exoplanets have been discovered in their stars’ habitable zones, what is known as just the right range of distance where liquid water can exist on a planet’s surface.
開普勒-62的行星系統中，兩顆系外行星在它們恒星周圍的宜居區中被發現，行星離恒星的距離適中使得行星表面理論上應保有液態水。
Kepler-62f is a rocky world 1.4 times bigger than earth and circles a star smaller and dimmer than the sun. Its neighbor, Kepler-62e, is just 1.6 times larger than Earth. Both are the smallest exoplanets ever found in their stars’ habitable zones.
開普勒-62F 行星是一個比地球大1.4倍的巖石世界，它圍繞著一顆比太陽小且暗的恒星運動。它的鄰居開普勒-62E行星是地球體積的1.6倍。這兩顆行星是在它們恒星周圍的的宜居區中所被發現的最小的系外行星。
Both Kepler-62e and f, “look very good as possibilities for looking for life,” said Bill Borucki, the Kepler science principal investigator, of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffet Field, California.
比爾布魯克是來自加利福尼亞州的開普勒科學首席研究員，他表示說，“開普勒-62E行星和開普勒-62F行星都是看起來可能存在生命的星球”，他在墨菲特地區的美國國家航空航天局埃姆斯研究中心工作。
The third potential earth-like planet identified by the scientists is Kepler-69c, standing at 1.7 times bigger than Earth and orbits a star similar to our own sun. Borucki said it represents a big step towards finding the first ever “alien earth”.
科學家發現的第三顆可能類似地球的行星是開普勒-69C行星，它是地球體積的1.7倍，圍繞著太陽附近的一顆恒星運動，布魯克說這次的發現是人類在尋找第一顆“外星地球”過程中所邁出的一大步。
“We’re moving very rapidly towards finding an Earth analogue around a star like the sun,” Borucki told SPACE.com. Kepler-69c lies 2,700 light-years away in the Cyngus constellation.
“人類正在尋找一顆類地行星的探索之路上快步前行”，布魯克在SPACE網站的訪談上說。開普勒-69C行星位于距離地球約2700光年的天鵝座星系。
The Kelper-62 discovery paper, which is being led by Borucki, was published Thursday in the journal Science.
布魯克發起的開普勒-62探索論文于當地時間周四在《科學》雜志上發表。
The three potentially habitable worlds are part of a larger find. Scientists unveiled a total of seven new exoplanets, five in the Kepler-62 system and two in Kepler-69.
這三顆可能適宜人類居住的星球只是最近發現之中的一部分，科學家稱總共有七顆新的系外行星被發現，其中五顆屬于開普勒-62行星系統，另外兩顆則屬于開普勒-69行星系統。
The five newfound planets range from 0.54 to1.95 times the size of earth, but only Kepler-62e and f are potentially habitable.
開普勒-62E行星系統中的五顆新發現的行星分別是地球體積的0.54到1.95倍，其中只有開普勒-62E和F行星可能適宜人類居住。
