美国宇航局的航天器“触摸”到太阳了

The American space agency NASA says a spacecraft has entered the sun's outermost atmosphere for the first time.

美国宇航局NASA称一个航天器首次进入太阳大气层的最外层。

The Parker Solar Probe traveled through the solar atmosphere's outer edge – known as the corona – in April, scientists announced this week.

科学家本周宣布，帕克太阳探测器于今年四月份穿过了太阳大气层的外缘，即所谓的日冕。

They said it took them a few months to examine data from the spacecraft and to confirm the result.

他们说自己花了几个月的时间来检查来自航天器的数据并确认结果。

Unlike Earth, the sun does not have a solid surface.

与地球不同，太阳的表面不是固体。

Instead, it is a superheated ball of material held together by gravity and magnetic forces.

相反，它是在重力和磁力作用下形成的过热物质球。

Some solar material escapes and is released into space in what is known as the solar wind.

一些太阳物质逃逸出来并以所谓的太阳风这种形式被释放到太空中。

The solar wind is the flow of charged particles, known as plasma, released from the corona into space.

太阳风是从日冕释放到太空中的带电粒子流，也就是等离子体。

The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 with a main goal of studying the solar wind.

帕克太阳探测器于2018年发射，主要目标是研究太阳风。

Scientists say being able to study the solar wind and the corona close up can help them better understand how solar activity influences Earth.

科学家表示，能够近距离研究太阳风和日冕可以帮助他们更好地了解太阳活动如何影响地球。

NASA has described the spacecraft's entry into the outermost atmosphere as successfully "touching" the sun.

美国宇航局把航天器进入太阳大气层最外层形容为成功地“触碰”到太阳。

Nour Raouafi is the project scientist on the mission.

努尔·拉瓦菲是此次任务的项目科学家。

He is with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland.

他在马里兰州约翰霍普金斯大学应用物理实验室工作。

Raouafi called the finding "fascinatingly exciting".

拉瓦菲称这一发现“令人兴奋不已”。

The spacecraft is now able to sense conditions in the magnetically-influenced corona for the very first time, Raouafi said.

拉瓦菲说该航天器现在能感知到受磁影响的日冕的状况，这还是第一次。

He added that the evidence used to confirm the findings included data on magnetic fields and the solar wind, as well as images.

他补充说，用来证实这些发现的证据包括磁场和太阳风的数据，以及各种图像。

"We can actually see the spacecraft flying through coronal structures that can be observed during a total solar eclipse," Raouafi said.

拉瓦菲说：“我们能够真切地看到该航天器穿过日冕结构，这种结构在日全食时期间可以被观测到。”

Scientists announced the findings during a meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

科学家们在美国地球物理学会的一次会议上宣布了这一发现。

Results were also published by the American Physical Society.

美国物理学会也发表了该研究结果。

The scientists reported Parker was about 13 million kilometers from the center of the sun when it crossed the boundary between the solar atmosphere and the solar wind.

科学家们报告说，当帕克太阳探测器穿过太阳大气层和太阳风之间的边界时，它距离太阳中心大约1300万公里。

They said the spacecraft was able to go in and out of the corona at least three times.

他们说这个探测器至少成功进出日冕三次。

The Parker team said early data also suggested the spacecraft may have entered the corona during its ninth close pass in August.

帕克太阳探测器研究小组表示，早期数据还表明，该探测器可能在八月份的第九次近距离越过太阳时进入了日冕。

But further study is needed to make a confirmation.

但还需要进一步的研究才能证实。

The scientists said Parker made its 10th close pass last month.

科学家们称，上个月帕克太阳探测器第十次近距离越过太阳。

The spacecraft is expected to keep getting closer to the sun and ping deeper into the corona until its final orbit, planned for 2025.

预计该航天器将继续靠近太阳并进入日冕更深处，直到进入2025年计划好的最终轨道。