天文学家捕捉到神秘的星际彗星的图像
A mysterious object hurtling toward our solar system from deep space has been photographed by scientists.
科学家们拍摄到一个神秘的物体，从外太空向我们的太阳系疾驰而来。
The incoming comet is like nothing scientists have seen before and is believed to have come from another star system.
这颗即将到来的彗星与科学家之前所见的完全不同，科学家认为它来自另一个星系。
That makes the visitor, known as 2I/Borisov, only the second interstellar object ever spotted in our solar system.
这使得这个被称为2I/Borisov的访客成为太阳系中发现的第二个星际物体。
Discovered in August, Borisov has traveled at least 7 trillion miles to get here and will make its close approach to Earth next month.
博里索夫于今年8月被发现，它已经航行了至少7万亿英里来到这里，并将于下个月靠近地球。
Experts captured a closeup of the object Sunday using a telescope at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii.
周日，专家们在夏威夷的凯克天文台用望远镜捕捉到了该天体的特写镜头。
The image, taken by Yale University scientists, showed the comet surrounded by a bright white glow.
这张由耶鲁大学科学家拍摄的照片显示，彗星被明亮的白光环绕。
Made up of ice and other debris crumbling from Borisov’s main body, the ghostly tail stretches a staggering 100,000 miles.
由冰和其他从鲍里索夫身体上剥落下来的碎片组成，幽灵般的尾巴绵延10万英里。
That makes it longer than 12 Earths stacked side by side behind the comet.
这使得它比在彗星后面并排排列的12个地球还要长。
“It’s humbling to realize how small Earth is next to this visitor from another solar system,” said Yale scientist Dr. Pieter van Dokkum.
耶鲁大学的科学家Pieter van Dokkum博士说:“与来自另一个太阳系的访客相比，地球显得如此之小，真让人感到惭愧。”
Borisov is only the second interstellar object spotted in our cosmic neighborhood. The first was ‘Oumuamua in 2017.
鲍里索夫是在我们的宇宙邻居中发现的第二个星际物体。第一个是2017年的Oumuamua。
Traveling at around 110,000 mph, the interloper will pass roughly 190 million miles from Earth in December, according to NASA.
据美国国家航空和宇宙航行局(NASA)称，“闯入者”的速度约为每小时11万英里，将于12月从距离地球约1.9亿英里的地方经过。
That’s about twice the average distance from Earth to the sun.
这大约是地球到太阳平均距离的两倍。
Borisov’s breakneck speed indicates it came from interstellar space and will likely return there again sometime next year.
鲍里索夫极快的速度表明它来自星际空间，并可能在明年某个时候再次返回那里。
Unlike ‘Oumuamua, which was only spotted as it sped past Earth, scientists saw Borisov coming weeks before its visit.
与“Oumuamua”不同的是，“Oumuamua”只是在经过地球时才被发现，科学家们在它访问前几周才看到了它。
This has allowed them to study it extensively before it shoots off into interstellar space again.
这使得他们能够在它再次发射到星际空间之前进行广泛的研究。
“Comet Borisov will eventually leave our solar system,” University of California astronomer Dr. Paul Kalas wrote last month.
“波里索夫彗星最终将离开我们的太阳系，”加州大学天文学家保罗·卡拉斯博士上个月写道。
“Until then we should all enjoy the marvelous beauty of our alien comet friend.”
“在那之前，我们都应该欣赏我们的外星彗星朋友的奇妙之美。”
Despite numerous attempts to study Borisov, scientists remain clueless as to what it is. Many speculate the distant mass is a comet.
尽管科学家们曾多次尝试研究鲍里索夫病毒，但他们对它究竟是什么仍然一无所知。许多人推测那遥远的质量是一颗彗星。
Experts say it’ll take a few more months to plot the object’s full trajectory, which may yield clues as to what it is and where it came from.
专家表示，绘制该物体的完整轨迹还需要几个月的时间，这可能会提供有关它是什么以及它来自哪里的线索。
In studying it, scientists hope to shed light on how comets and other objects form in distant star systems.
在研究过程中，科学家们希望能够阐明彗星和其他天体是如何在遥远的星系中形成的。
The goal is to get a better understanding of how the universe ticks outside of our Milky Way.
我们的目标是更好地了解银河系之外的宇宙是如何运转的。
According to prominent astronomer Dr. Seth Shostak, 76, we can’t say for sure Borisov is not an alien probe sent to study our planet.
76岁的著名天文学家塞思·肖斯塔克博士说，我们不能确定鲍里索夫不是用来研究我们星球的外星探测器。
“We can’t rule out that this is an interstellar probe,” Shostak, a senior astronomer at the SETI Institute in California, told the Sun in September.
“我们不排除这是一个星际探测器，”加州SETI研究所的高级天文学家肖斯塔克9月告诉《太阳报》。
“If we get a closeup look, we may well see it has a metal exterior with portholes and little green faces looking out at us.
“如果我们近距离观察，我们很可能会看到它的金属外壳上有舷窗，还有绿色的小脸蛋在看着我们。
“However, I would bet next month’s paycheck this is a comet.”
“不过，我敢打赌下个月的工资就是一颗彗星。”
