This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。
The Hubble Space Telescope continues to make valuable discoveries after more than twenty years in orbit around Earth.
哈勃望远镜在绕地球轨道服役超过20年后继续获得极有价值的发现。
Hubble recently showed a fourth moon orbiting Pluto. Astronomers temporarily named it P4. The moon is the smallest to be discovered around the icy dwarf planet.
哈勃望远镜最近发现了冥王星第4颗卫星，天文学家暂时称之为冥卫四（P4），它是环绕冥王星的最小的卫星。
注：icy dwarf planet，冰态矮行星。这里是指冥王星，2006年被从行星降格为矮行星，使以前所说的太阳系9大行星只剩8颗。
Astronomers estimate that the moon is from thirteen to thirty-four kilometers across. They first saw it in a Hubble photo taken on June twenty-eighth.
天文学家估计这颗卫星的直径在13到34公里之间。天文学家首次在6月28日哈勃望远镜拍摄的照片中发现了这颗卫星。
The American space agency NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope in nineteen ninety. Reaching that day took years of work. Ed Weiler is NASA's chief astronomer. Mr. Weiler has worked closely with the Hubble program since nineteen seventy-nine.
美国宇航局于1990年发射了哈勃太空望远镜，这一壮举耗费了多年时间。埃德·维勒（Ed Weiler）是美国宇航局首席天文学家，他自1979年以来一直和“哈勃”项目密切合作。
ED WEILER: "The Hubble, when it was launched, represented an increase in capability of other telescopes on the ground by a factor of ten. The last time in human history in astronomy that we leaped a factor of ten, in one step, was when Galileo stopped using his eye and put the first telescope to his eye."
维勒：“哈勃发射后比其它地面望远镜的观测能力有了十倍级的提升。上一次人类天文学历史上一步跃升十倍，是伽利略用第一架望远镜代替肉眼的时刻。”
NASA's first chief of astronomy was Nancy Grace Roman. Ms. Roman joined NASA in nineteen fifty-nine. She led the effort that resulted in the creation of the Hubble Space Telescope.
南西·格蕾丝·罗曼（Nancy Grace Roman）是美国宇航局首任天文学部门主管，她于1959年加入美国宇航局，她领导的工作促成了哈勃望远镜的诞生。
NANCY GRACE ROMAN: "Astronomers had been wanting to get observations from above the atmosphere for a long time. Looking through the atmosphere is somewhat like looking through a piece of old, stained glass. The glass has defects in it, so the image is blurred from that."
罗曼说：“天文学家一直期望能在大气层以外进行观测。透过大气层观测有些像透过一片老旧的有色玻璃。这片玻璃本身有缺陷，那么透过它看到的图像也是模糊的。”
The Hubble telescope orbits about five hundred fifty kilometers above Earth. Ms. Roman says she still remembers the first images that it captured.
哈勃望远镜轨道位于地球上方550公里左右。罗曼女士表示，她至今仍记得哈勃捕获的第一张图像。
NANCY GRACE ROMAN: "I think the image that to me was most striking was the center of a globular cluster. You could see each star individually, and see their color, and it was just a fantastic sight."
罗曼：“我觉得那张图片最让我印象深刻的是球状星团的中心。你可以单独看到每颗恒星和它们的颜色，那真是梦幻般的景象。”
The Hubble Space Telescope has helped expand our knowledge of the universe. It helped scientists estimate that the universe began about fourteen billion years ago. Earlier estimates had placed it between ten and twenty billion years old.
哈勃望远镜帮助了我们扩大对宇宙的认识，还帮助科学家估计出宇宙始于大约140亿年前。早前的估计认为这一数字大约在100到200亿年之间。
Ed Weiler says the Hubble telescope also confirmed the existence of black holes. These are extremely dense masses believed to exist at the center of most galaxies. Their gravitational pull is so strong, they absorb light.
维勒表示，哈勃望远镜还证实了黑洞的存在。黑洞是被认为存在于大多数星系中心的密度极大的物质，它具有非常强的引力，可以吸收光线。
ED WEILER: "Black holes were science fiction. 'Star Trek,' 'Star Wars.' 'Black holes -- nice theory but nobody believes in them, right?' Hubble proved they exist."
维勒：“黑洞此前是科幻小说。像《星际迷航》、《星际大战》、《黑洞--无人相信的美好理论》。而哈勃证实了它的存在。”
The Hubble Space Telescope completed its one millionth scientific observation in July. NASA is building a new space telescope to look even deeper into the beginnings of the universe.
今年7月哈勃望远镜完成了第1百万次科学观测。美国宇航局正在建造了一台新的太空望远镜来更深入地观测宇宙起源。
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