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外媒报道称，天文学家刚刚公布了一颗名叫 K2-18b 的“超级地球”，其尺寸为地球的两倍、质量则是地球的八倍，并且可能拥有生命。 2015年美国宇航局的开普勒太空船在太阳系外发现了一颗叫K2-18b行星，刚刚公布的相关数据表明，这个行星的温度、到恒星的距离、大气条件刚刚好，很可能适宜人类居住。 Current equipment is only able to determine basic factors such as how far away it is, its mass and the surface temperature. 目前科学家只能确定它的基本数据，例如离地球的距离、质量和表面温度。 Water vapour has been discovered on a 'super-Earth' 110 light years away that is estimated to be twice the size of Earth and eight times its mass. 科学家们在这颗110光年外的“超级地球”上发现了水蒸气。它的体积约为地球的两倍，质量为地球的八倍。 It's closer to its star than the Earth is to the Sun, meaning it has shorter years, completing its orbit in 33 days while ours takes 365. 它到恒星的距离比地球到太阳更近，这意味着它公转周期更短，只要33天，而地球需要365天。 'It's the only planet outside our solar system that we know has the correct temperature, an atmosphere and water,' said Dr Angelos Tsiaras the author of the study.' “这是目前已知的太阳系外行星中，唯一具有合适的温度、大气和水的行星。”负责该行星研究的Angelos Tsiaras博士说。 科学家预测， K2-18b可能是一个冰冷的水世界。  The presence of water vapour in the planet's atmosphere suggests it could be a rocky world or an icy one with a lot of water inside it. 行星大气层中存在的水蒸气表明它可能是一个岩质行星，也可能是冰冷的水世界。 Most other exoplanets like this have been gas giants, such as Jupiter and Saturn, so K2-18b offers a valuable opportunity for researchers to study smaller, rocky or icy planets. 像这样的太阳系外行星大部分是气态巨行星，如木星和土星。因此K2-18b的发现为研究人员研究小型的岩石或冰质行星提供了宝贵的机会。 K2-18b上存在多少水？是否存在生命？还有待观察。  Experts will continue to monitor the planet to confirm their theory that it is capable of sustaining life, and they can't be sure how much water is actually on the planet. 专家们将继续监测该行星上的水是否足以维持生命，但目前他们无法确定这个行星上究竟有多少水。 They said the water content could be as low as 0.01 per cent or as high as 50 per cent. 他们说水含量可能低至0.01％或高达50％。 About 71 per cent of the Earth's surface is covered in water. 而地球上大约71％的地表被水覆盖。 因此科学家提醒说，寻找宜居的星球固然令人兴奋，但是不能放弃我们的地球家园。 'The search for habitable planets, it's very exciting, but it's here to always remind us that this (Earth) is our only home and it's probably out of the question if we will be able to travel to other planets.' “寻找适合居住的行星，这是非常令人兴奋的，但它始终提醒我们，地球是我们唯一的家园，能够前往其他星球，那也几乎是不可能的。”  |
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