科学家们在金星上发现了活火山

科学家们在金星上发现了活火山

Our Solar System is filled with interesting worlds that mankind has yet to fully explore. Venus, which is closer to the Sun than Earth but not as close as the steamy Mercury, hasn’t been studied in the same way as some other planets in our system, and there’s still a lot we don’t know about it.

我们的太阳系充满了人类尚未充分探索的有趣世界。金星比地球离太阳更近，但却不如湿热的水星离太阳更近，人们对它的研究与我们太阳系中其他一些行星的研究方式不同，我们对它还有很多不了解的地方。

Now, a new study reveals something about Venus that many scientists have wondered: whether or not the planet has active volcanoes. The research, which was carried out by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), was published in a new paper in Science Advances.

现在，一项新的研究揭示了许多科学家想知道的关于金星的一些事情:这个星球上是否有活火山。这项由大学空间研究协会(USRA)开展的研究发表在《科学进展》的一篇新论文中。

Scientists have known that Venus has a history of volcanism, but just how far back it stretches and whether there are still active volcanoes on its surface has remained a mystery worth probing. That’s just what scientists have now done, and the results suggest that Venus is most definitely still volcanically active.

科学家们已经知道金星有火山活动的历史，但它究竟延伸了多远，其表面是否还有活火山，仍然是一个值得探究的谜。这正是科学家们现在所做的，结果表明，金星绝对有火山活动。

Using data from the Venus Express spacecraft, scientists have been able to analyze the lava flows and determine how fresh lava reacts once it is exposed on the planet’s surface. What the team discovered is that not only are the existing lava flows on the planet’s surface not particularly ancient, but that some of them are just years old.

利用金星快车号宇宙飞船的数据，科学家们已经能够分析熔岩流，并确定一旦熔岩暴露在火星表面，新鲜的熔岩会发生怎样的反应。研究小组发现，不仅火星表面现有的熔岩流不是特别古老，而且有些熔岩流的年代也只有几年。

“This active volcanism is consistent with episodic spikes of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere measured by both the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and the Venus Express, which could have been produced by the same eruption that formed the young lava flows described,” the paper explains.

“这种活火山活动与先锋金星轨道器和金星快车测量到的大气中二氧化硫的周期性峰值相一致，金星快车可能是由形成所描述的年轻熔岩流的同一次喷发所产生的。”论文解释道。

Humans aren’t ready to go exploring Venus on foot any time soon. The planet’s surface reaches temperatures of well over 800 degrees Fahrenheit, so it’s not exactly a nice vacation destination. Still, by learning more about the planet, we can better understand our own world, as well as others we may spot far off in space.

人类还没有准备好在短期内徒步探索金星。地球表面的温度超过800华氏度，所以它并不是一个理想的度假目的地。尽管如此，通过更多地了解这个星球，我们可以更好地了解我们自己的世界，以及我们可能在遥远的太空中发现的其他世界。