研究人员对木星大气层中的一场巨大而持久的风暴有了新的发现。
A study published recently in Science says that Jupiter's Great Red Spot, a storm wide enough to cover the Earth, is also extremely deep.
最近发表在《科学》杂志上的一项研究表明，木星上宽度足以覆盖地球的风暴“大红斑”的深度也非常深。
The U.S. space agency NASA's spacecraft, Juno, is using special tools to make images of the planet.
美国宇航局的航天器朱诺号正在使特殊工具制作这颗行星的图像。
Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in Texas was the lead scientist in the study. He said microwave radiation and gravity-mapping tools from Juno show the storm "fades out" slowly and "keeps going down." He explained that the storm does not have a clear ending point below the clouds.
德克萨斯州西南研究所的斯科特·博尔顿是这项研究的首席科学家。他说，朱诺号的微波辐射和重力测绘工具显示该风暴持续向下并逐渐减弱。他解释说，该风暴在云层下方没有明确的终结点。
The storm probably has a depth between 350 and 500 kilometers. It is 16,000 kilometers wide.
该风暴的深度可能在350到500公里之间。它的宽度有1.6万公里。
The planet is known for powerful storms in its atmosphere. Thousands of storms swirl around Jupiter at any time, scientists said. The storms cause the colorful cloud patterns shown by photography and mapping tools. Some of the tools produce images in three dimensions.
这颗行星以其大气层中的强大风暴而闻名。科学家们表示，任何时候木星周围都有数以千计的风暴漩涡。科学家们表示，这些风暴形成了摄像和测绘工具显示出来的五颜六色的云纹。其中有些工具生成了三维图像。
Bolton said the next project for Juno is to map the storms in the extreme north and south of the planet. They could be even deeper than the Great Red Spot.
博尔顿表示，朱诺号的下一个项目是绘制木星极北和极南的风暴图。它们可能比“大红斑”还要更深。
Bolton said he did not want to guess that the Great Red Spot was the deepest of the planet's storms. He said, however, since the spot is the widest, it might also be the deepest.
博尔顿表示，他不想去猜测“大红斑”是木星最深的风暴。然而他表示，既然“大红斑”最宽，它可能也是最深的。
The Juno spacecraft started orbiting Jupiter in 2016. NASA recently announced the project will be extended to 2025.
朱诺号航天器于2016年开始绕木星运行。美国宇航局最近宣布该项目将延长至2025年。
I'm Dan Friedell.
我是丹·弗里德尔。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，请勿转载，违者必究！)