現(xiàn)在我們對Europa的地下海洋有了更多的線索

現(xiàn)在我們對Europa的地下海洋有了更多的線索

Space water already gushes into the void from Saturn’s frozen moon Enceladus, meaning there is probably a vast ocean beneath the surface, and astronomers are now that much closer to proving the same phenomenon happens on the icy orb Europa.

太空中的水已經(jīng)從土星的冰凍衛(wèi)星Enceladus中涌出，這意味著在Enceladus的地表下可能有一個巨大的海洋，而天文學(xué)家現(xiàn)在更接近于證明在冰冷的天體 Europa上也發(fā)生同樣的現(xiàn)象。

Europa is Jupiter’s fourth largest moon in the solar system. There has been no hard evidence that plumes of water vapor really do explode from cracks in the ice, and even NASA sort of misrepresented an observation last year.

Europa是太陽系中木星的第四大衛(wèi)星。目前還沒有確鑿的證據(jù)表明，大量的水蒸氣確實會從冰層的裂縫中噴發(fā)出來，甚至美國宇航局(NASA)去年的一次觀測也有點失實。

But now scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany are presenting the closest thing we have to definite proof that Europa breathes out water vapor — meaning that it could be hiding a subsurface ocean.

但現(xiàn)在德國馬克斯普朗克太陽系研究所(MPS)的科學(xué)家們提出了最接近我們所能確定的證據(jù)，證明Europa會噴出水蒸氣，這意味著它可能隱藏了一個地下海洋。

When NASA’s Galileo probe flew by Europa in 2000, its robotic eye may or may not have seen one of these plumes shooting out of its crust (and that ice can get to be up to 11 miles thick).

當(dāng)美國航天局(NASA)的伽利略探測器在2000年飛過Europa時，它的機器眼可能看到也可能沒有看到從它的地殼中噴出的這些羽流(而這些冰可能厚達11英里)。

While NASA and ESA have found more evidence that could almost certainly — emphasis on almost — mean Europa is a freezing water world, nothing has been proven yet.

雖然美國宇航局和歐洲航天局已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了更多的證據(jù)，幾乎可以肯定(強調(diào)幾乎)Europa是一個冰水世界，但還沒有任何證據(jù)被證明。

Its magnetic field is 20 times stronger than Earth’s. When Galileo’s magnetometer showed that its magnetic field had less power near Europa, it was something that might have meant the spacecraft captured evidence of a plume during that flyby.

它的磁場是地球磁場的20倍，當(dāng)伽利略探測器的磁力計顯示它的磁場在Europa附近的能量較低時，這可能意味著航天器在飛過Europa時捕捉到了羽流的跡象。

Another instrument on the probe, its Energetic Particles Detector (EPD), collected more data that was possible evidence of a plume. It found that fewer protons were floating around near Europa than expected.

探測器上的另一個儀器，它的高能粒子探測器(EPD)，收集了更多的數(shù)據(jù)，可能是羽流存在的證據(jù)。它發(fā)現(xiàn)在Europa附近漂浮的質(zhì)子比預(yù)期的要少。

Europa orbits in Jupiter’s enormous magnetic grasp, so this was an abnormality that caught scientists’ attention, though some dismissed it as the moon just getting in the way of the EPD as Galileo was trying to observe Jupiter.

Europa在木星巨大的磁場中繞軌道運行，因此這是一個引起科學(xué)家注意的異?，F(xiàn)象，盡管有些人認(rèn)為這是因為伽利略探測器試圖觀測木星時，月球剛好擋住了高能粒子探測器(EPD)的軌道。

In collaboration with ESA scientists, the MPS team recreated the Galileo data to test whether a cryovolcanic eruption was the possible cause of that sudden lapse in magnetic pull. It was an experiment that would only succeed with the assumption that Galileo had run into a plume that disrupted Jupiter’s magnetic field.

MPS團隊與歐洲航天局的科學(xué)家合作，重現(xiàn)了伽利略探測器的數(shù)據(jù)，以測試低溫火山爆發(fā)是否可能是導(dǎo)致磁力突然下降的原因。這個實驗只有假設(shè)伽利略探測器遇到了擾亂木星磁場的羽流才會成功。

Europa’s thin oxygen atmosphere, and any water that might be released into it, are full of uncharged particles. When high-energy protons crash into such particles, they get extra electrons that take away their charge, and Jupiter’s magnetic field can no longer hold them back.

Europa稀薄的氧氣大氣，以及任何可能被釋放到其中的水，都充滿了不帶電的粒子。當(dāng)高能質(zhì)子撞擊這些粒子時，它們會獲得額外的電子來帶走電荷，而木星的磁場再也無法阻擋它們。

What it probably means is that, just like Enceladus, Europa could have a subsurface ocean in which primitive forms of life may be able to survive.

這可能意味著，就像Enceladus一樣，Europa可能擁有一個地下海洋，原始生命形式可能能夠在其中生存。

Until then, you can give yourself nightmares about what kind of life-forms could be lurking beneath extraterrestrial ice.

在那之前，你可能會自己做噩夢，想知道在外星冰下潛藏著什么樣的生命形式。