VOA慢速英语听力：人工智能系统发现第一颗可能危险的小行星 AI System Finds First Possibly Dangerous Asteroid

VOA慢速英语听力：人工智能系统发现第一颗可能危险的小行星 AI System Finds First Possibly Dangerous Asteroid.

A new artificial intelligence (AI) method has been used to identify an asteroid that could one day present a threat to Earth.

一种新的人工智能（AI）方法已被用于识别一颗可能会对地球构成威胁的小行星。

Scientists made the discovery using a computer processing method called an algorithm. The algorithm searches through data collected by four different Earth-based telescopes. The goal is to identify asteroids that might present a risk of crashing into Earth.

科学家们使用一种名为算法的计算机处理方法进行了这一发现。该算法搜索了四个不同的地基望远镜收集的数据。目标是识别可能会对地球撞击构成威胁的小行星。

The asteroid search effort is financed by the American space agency NASA. It is operated by a team at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy.

这项小行星搜索工作由美国航空航天局（NASA）资助，并由夏威夷大学天文学研究所的团队操作。

The system is called ATLAS. It involves four different telescopes. Two of the telescopes are based in Hawaii. Another operates in Chile and the other sits in South Africa. ATLAS is designed to search the whole sky several times each night looking for moving objects, NASA explains.

这个系统被称为ATLAS。它涉及四个不同的望远镜。其中两个望远镜位于夏威夷。另一个在智利运行，另一个在南非。NASA解释说，ATLAS被设计成每天晚上多次搜索整个天空，寻找移动的物体。

NASA and its international partners continuously search the skies for what scientists call near-Earth objects (NEOs). Such objects include asteroids and comets that come within 50 million kilometers of Earth’s orbit. The effort aims to identify and follow NEOs that could one day strike Earth.

NASA及其国际合作伙伴不断地搜索着天空，寻找科学家所谓的近地天体（NEOs）。这些天体包括距离地球轨道不超过5000万公里的小行星和彗星。这一努力的目标是识别并跟踪有一天可能撞击地球的NEOs。

NASA says a large majority of the NEOs that enter Earth’s atmosphere burn up before reaching the planet’s surface. But the space agency is concerned about larger NEOs up to 50 meters in size. NASA says such objects could cause widespread damage to areas they hit.

美国航空航天局（NASA）表示，大多数进入地球大气层的近地天体（NEOs）在到达地球表面之前都会燃烧。但是，太空机构对直径高达50米的较大NEOs表示担忧。NASA表示，这样的天体可能会对撞击区域造成广泛破坏。

The space agency considers NEOs that come within 7.5 million kilometers of Earth’s orbit and that are bigger than 140 meters “potentially hazardous objects.”

美国航空航天局将距离地球轨道7,500万公里以内，并且直径大于140米的NEOs称为“潜在危险物体”。

Researchers from the University of Washington created the algorithm and led the latest discovery operation. The team announced in a statement it had identified a 182-meter-long asteroid named 2022 SF289. The find came during testing of the new algorithm, which the researchers called HelioLinc3D.

华盛顿大学的研究人员开发了这一算法，并领导了最新的发现行动。团队在一份声明中宣布他们发现了一颗名为2022 SF289的长182米的小行星。这一发现是在对这一新算法进行测试时得出的，研究人员称其为HelioLinc3D。

The researchers said the newly discovered asteroid met the description of a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA). However, the scientists said asteroid 2022 SF289 will likely present no threat to Earth in the foreseeable future.

研究人员表示，这颗新发现的小行星符合潜在危险小行星（PHA）的描述。然而，科学家表示，预计2022 SF289小行星在可预见的未来不太可能对地球构成威胁。

The newly discovered asteroid was the first PHA to be identified with the HelioLinc3D algorithm. Scientists plan to use the new algorithm together with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which is still being developed on top of a mountain in Chile.

这颗新发现的小行星是第一个通过HelioLinc3D算法识别出的潜在危险小行星（PHA）。科学家计划将这一新算法与目前正在智利的一座山顶上建设中的维拉·C·鲁宾天文台一起使用。

Rubin is expected to start operating in early 2025. University of Washington researchers have said the observatory should greatly improve the discovery rate of PHAs. This is because the telescope was built with a very powerful new camera and a huge mirror.

维拉·C·鲁宾天文台预计将于2025年初开始运行。华盛顿大学的研究人员表示，该天文台将极大提高潜在危险小行星的发现率。这是因为该望远镜配备了非常强大的新相机和巨大的镜面。

Some NEOs are difficult to identify with existing telescopes because they can be blocked by bright areas of space. For example, other equipment missed asteroid 2022 SF289 because of rich star fields that exist in our Milky Way galaxy. Rubin’s instruments are expected to provide more detailed images and data to improve the identification process for NEOs.

一些近地天体由于被明亮的空间区域阻挡，很难用现有的望远镜进行识别。例如，其他设备错过了2022 SF289小行星，因为在我们的银河系中存在丰富的星场。维拉·C·鲁宾天文台的仪器预计将提供更详细的图像和数据，以改善对近地天体的识别过程。

Ari Heinze is a researcher at the University of Washington and a main developer of the HelioLinc3D algorithm. He said in a statement, “By demonstrating the real-world effectiveness of the software that Rubin will use to look for thousands of yet-unknown potentially hazardous asteroids, the discovery of 2022 SF289 makes us all safer.”

阿里·海因泽（Ari Heinze）是华盛顿大学的研究员，也是HelioLinc3D算法的主要开发者。他在一份声明中表示：“通过展示这个软件在寻找数千颗尚未知晓的潜在危险小行星方面的实际有效性，2022 SF289的发现使我们所有人都更安全。”

The University of Washington researchers say more than 2,350 have so far been discovered. They say with the new algorithm, scientists hope to identify thousands more. Astronomers using ATLAS say discoveries of PHAs are made when they identify “a point of light moving unambiguously in a straight line over the image series.”

华盛顿大学的研究人员表示，目前已经发现了超过2,350颗潜在危险小行星。他们表示，借助这一新算法，科学家希望能够识别出数千颗潜在危险小行星。使用ATLAS望远镜的天文学家称，当他们发现“一个点的光在图像序列上明确地沿直线移动”时，就会发现潜在危险小行星。

The HelioLinc3D algorithm was developed specifically to be used by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. But Heinze and other researchers said they wanted to see if it could discover a new asteroid using existing telescope data.

HelioLinc3D算法是专门为维拉·C·鲁宾天文台开发的。但是海因泽和其他研究人员表示，他们希望看看是否能够使用现有的望远镜数据发现一颗新的小行星。

After Rubin’s team set HelioLinc3D to search through Rubin data, it identified its first PHA on July 18. The asteroid was 20 million kilometers from Earth.

在维拉·C·鲁宾天文台团队设置HelioLinc3D来搜索维拉·C·鲁宾天文台数据后，该算法在7月18日发现了第一个潜在危险小行星。该小行星距离地球2,000万公里。

ATLAS astronomer Larry Denneau was a leader of the discovery team. He said the algorithm shows “it is possible to recover these faint objects as long as they are visible over several nights.” Denneau added, “This in effect gives us a bigger, better telescope.”

ATLAS的天文学家拉里·德内奥（Larry Denneau）是这个发现团队的领导者。他说，这一算法显示“只要这些微弱的物体在几个晚上内可见，就有可能找回它们。”德内奥补充说：“这实际上给了我们一台更大、更好的望远镜。”

I’m Bryan Lynn.

我是布莱恩·林恩（Bryan Lynn）。

Words in This Story

asteroid – n. a rocky object that goes around the sun like a planet

comet – n. an object in space that leaves a bright line behind it in the sky

hazardous – adj. dangerous

unambiguous – adj. expressed in a way that makes it completely what is meant

faint – adj. not clear or strong