我們一直認(rèn)為銀河系像一張平滑的光盤，但天文學(xué)家最近繪制出的銀河系三維地圖卻顯示，銀河系星系盤是彎曲的，厚度不一，而且距離中心越遠(yuǎn)處越厚。

Astronomers have created the most precise map to date of the Milky Way by tracking thousands of big pulsating stars spread throughout the galaxy, demonstrating that its disk of myriad stars is not flat but dramatically warped and twisted in shape.

天文學(xué)家通過追蹤遍布銀河系的數(shù)千顆大的脈動變星，繪制出了迄今為止最精確的銀河系地圖。從地圖上看，由無數(shù)恒星組成的星系盤并非扁平，而很明顯是彎曲的、扭曲的。

pulsating [p?l'se?t??]：adj.脈動的；脈沖的；搏動的

myriad ['m?r??d]：adj.無數(shù)的；種種的

The researchers on Thursday unveiled a three-dimensional map of the Milky Way - home to more than 100 billion stars including our sun - providing a comprehensive chart of its structure: a stellar disk comprised of four major spiral arms and a bar-shaped core region.

研究人員于上周四公布了一張銀河系的三維地圖，其中包括太陽在內(nèi)共有1000多億顆恒星。這張地圖全面展示了銀河系結(jié)構(gòu)：由四個大的螺旋型枝節(jié)和一個條狀的核心區(qū)域組成的星系盤。

'For the first time, our whole galaxy - from edge to edge of the disk - was mapped using real, precise distances,' said University of Warsaw astronomer Andrzej Udalski, co-author of the study published in the journal Science.

研究報(bào)告的作者之一、華沙大學(xué)天文學(xué)家安德烈·烏達(dá)爾斯基說:“從星系盤的一端到另一端，我們第一次使用真實(shí)、精確的距離繪制了整個銀河系的地圖。”研究報(bào)告發(fā)表在《科學(xué)》雜志上。

Until now, the understanding of the galaxy's shape had been based upon indirect measurements of celestial landmarks within the Milky Way and inferences from structures observed in other galaxies populating the universe.

到目前為止，人類對星系形狀的理解是基于對銀河系內(nèi)天體標(biāo)志的間接測量，以及對宇宙中其他星系結(jié)構(gòu)的推斷。

The new map was formulated using precise measurements of the distance from the sun to 2,400 stars called 'Cepheid variables' scattered throughout the galaxy.

這幅新地圖是通過精確測量散布在銀河系中的2400顆“造父變星”與太陽之間的距離而繪制的。

'Cepheids are ideal to study the Milky Way for several reasons,' added University of Warsaw astronomer and study co-author Dorota Skowron.

“造父變星是研究銀河系的理想選擇，原因有很多，”華沙大學(xué)天文學(xué)家、研究報(bào)告的合著者多洛塔·斯考倫補(bǔ)充道。

'Cepheid variables are bright supergiant stars and they are 100 to 10,000 times more luminous than the sun, so we can detect them on the outskirts of our galaxy. They are relatively young - younger than 400 million years - so we can find them near their birthplaces.'

“造父變星是明亮的超巨星，其亮度是太陽的100到一萬倍，所以我們可以在銀河系的外圍探測到它們。它們形成的時間相對較短，不到4億年，所以可以在其發(fā)源地附近找到它們。”

luminous ['lu?m?n?s]：adj.發(fā)光的；明亮的

The astronomers tracked the Cepheids using the Warsaw Telescope located in the Chilean Andes.

天文學(xué)家使用位于智利安第斯山脈的華沙望遠(yuǎn)鏡追蹤造父變星。

These stars pulsate at regular intervals and can be seen through the galaxy's immense clouds of interstellar dust that can make dimmer stellar bodies hard to spot.

這些恒星有規(guī)律地發(fā)生脈動，可以透過星系中巨大的星際塵埃云看到，這些塵埃云會使較暗的恒星體很難被發(fā)現(xiàn)。

The map showed that the galaxy's disk, far from flat, is significantly warped and varies in thickness from place to place, with increasing thickness measured further from the galactic center.

這張地圖顯示，銀河系的星系盤遠(yuǎn)非平面狀，而明顯是彎曲的，且各處厚度不一，距離星系中心越遠(yuǎn)處越厚。

The disk boasts a diameter of about 14,000 light years. Each light year is about 6 trillion miles (9 trillion km).

銀河系星系盤的直徑約為1.4萬光年。每光年大約有6萬億英里（9萬億公里）。

The Milky Way began to form relatively soon after the Big Bang explosion that marked the beginning of the universe some 13.8 billion years ago.

銀河系是在大約138億年前宇宙大爆炸后不久開始形成的。宇宙大爆炸標(biāo)志著宇宙的起源。

The sun, located roughly 26,000 light years from the supermassive black hole residing at the center of the galaxy, formed about 4.5 billion years ago.

太陽形成于大約45億年前，距離位于星系中心的超大質(zhì)量黑洞約2.6萬光年。

英文來源：每日郵報(bào)

翻譯&編輯：yaning