美國宇航局局長認(rèn)為冥王星仍應(yīng)被視為一顆行星

NASA chief argues Pluto should still be considered a planet

美國宇航局局長認(rèn)為冥王星仍應(yīng)被視為一顆行星

Poor Pluto was declassified from being a planet in our solar system to just a humble dwarf planet 13 year ago.

可憐的冥王星在13年前被解密，從太陽系中的一顆行星變成了一顆不起眼的矮行星。

Despite it being over a decade since this decision was made, the topic is still hotly disputed and there are those who think Pluto should be labeled as a planet once more.

盡管做出這一決定已經(jīng)有十多年了，但這個話題仍然存在激烈的爭議，有些人認(rèn)為冥王星應(yīng)該再次被貼上行星的標(biāo)簽。

The International Astronomical Union made the final decision but it seems NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine has put himself firmly in Pluto’s corner.

國際天文學(xué)聯(lián)合會做出了最后的決定，但看起來美國宇航局局長吉姆·布里登斯廷已經(jīng)堅定地站在了冥王星的立場上。

Bridenstine recently spoke out about his support for Pluto as a planet during a tour of the Aerospace Engineering Sciences Building at the University of Colorado Boulder.

布里登斯汀最近在參觀科羅拉多大學(xué)博爾德分校(University of Colorado Boulder)的航天工程科學(xué)大樓時，公開表示支持冥王星是一顆行星。

The NASA chief said: “Just so you know, in my view, Pluto is a planet.”

美國航天局局長說：“你知道，在我看來，冥王星是一顆行星。”

“You can write that the NASA administrator declared Pluto a planet once again. I’m sticking by that, it’s the way I learned it and I’m committed to it.”

“你可以這樣寫，美國宇航局局長再次宣布冥王星為行星。我堅持這一點，這是我學(xué)習(xí)的方式，我致力于這一點。”

Bridenstine’s lighthearted comment doesn’t change Pluto’s classification but it does bring to light the ongoing debate once more.

布里登斯廷輕松的評論并沒有改變冥王星的分類，但它再一次揭示了正在進(jìn)行的爭論。

Pluto was removed from the list of nine planets in August 2006 mostly because its properties were more suited to the definition of a dwarf planet.

冥王星在2006年8月被從九大行星名單中刪除，主要是因為它的性質(zhì)更適合于矮行星的定義。

The difference between a dwarf planet and a planet is largely to do with the space around it.

矮行星和行星的區(qū)別很大程度上與周圍的空間有關(guān)。

Planets have a clear area around their orbit whereas dwarf planets do not.

行星在其軌道周圍有一個清晰的區(qū)域，而矮行星則沒有。

There are also many other celestial objects a similar size to Pluto with unclear orbits so some scientists have argued that if Pluto where to be considered a planet then all those other objects would have to be too.

還有許多其他的天體與冥王星大小相似，軌道不明，因此一些科學(xué)家認(rèn)為，如果冥王星被認(rèn)為是一個行星，那么所有其他天體也必須是。

However, Pluto has other features like a multilayered atmosphere, moons, weather and organic compounds that all make the issue regarding its planet status even trickier.

然而，冥王星還有其他的特征，如多層大氣、衛(wèi)星、天氣和有機(jī)化合物，這些都使得它的行星地位問題更加棘手。