Solar Orbiter makes first close approach to the Sun

ESA’s Sun-exploring mission Solar Orbiter has made its first close approach to the star on June 15, getting as close as 77 million kilometres to its surface, about half the distance between the Sun and Earth.

歐洲空間局的太陽(yáng)探測(cè)計(jì)劃“太陽(yáng)環(huán)繞器”在六月十五日進(jìn)行第一次太陽(yáng)接近，屆時(shí)他會(huì)飛抵距太陽(yáng)表面七千七百萬(wàn)公里處，約為日地距離的一半。

In the week following this first perihelion, the point in the orbit closest to the Sun, the mission scientists will test the spacecraft’s ten science instruments, including the six telescopes on-board, which will acquire close-up images of the Sun in unison for the first time. According to ESA’s Solar Orbiter Project Scientist Daniel Müller, the images, to be released in mid-July, will be the closest images of the Sun ever captured.

>Perihelion n. 近日點(diǎn)

>Unison n./adj. 共同/和諧的

在近日點(diǎn)后一周中，負(fù)責(zé)該任務(wù)的科學(xué)家會(huì)測(cè)試這臺(tái)探測(cè)器的十臺(tái)科學(xué)儀器，包括搭載的六臺(tái)首次用來(lái)拍攝太陽(yáng)近距合成照片的望遠(yuǎn)鏡。根據(jù)ESA太陽(yáng)環(huán)繞器團(tuán)隊(duì)的科學(xué)家丹尼爾·穆勒，這個(gè)將會(huì)在七月中旬發(fā)布的照片將會(huì)成為迄今為止人類在距離太陽(yáng)最近處獲得的圖像。

“We have never taken pictures of the Sun from a closer distance than this,” Daniel says. “There have been higher resolution close-ups, e.g. taken by the four-meter Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii earlier this year. But from Earth, with the atmosphere between the telescope and the Sun, you can only see a small part of the solar spectrum that you can see from space.”

>resolution n. 分辨率

>spectrum n. 光譜

“我們還從未在距離太陽(yáng)如此近的距離下拍攝太陽(yáng)”丹尼爾說(shuō)“這比之前的有更高的分辨率，而且更近，比如今年早些時(shí)候由在夏威夷的四米口徑丹尼爾·井上太陽(yáng)望遠(yuǎn)鏡。但因?yàn)閺牡厍蛴^測(cè)，望遠(yuǎn)鏡與太陽(yáng)間的大氣的吸收，你只能看到能從太空中觀測(cè)到的太陽(yáng)光譜中的一小部分。

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, launched in 2018, makes closer approaches. The spacecraft, however, doesn’t carry telescopes capable of looking directly at the Sun.

NASA在2018年發(fā)射的帕克太陽(yáng)探測(cè)器距離太陽(yáng)更加接近，然而并沒(méi)有搭載適合直接觀測(cè)太陽(yáng)的望遠(yuǎn)鏡。

“Our ultraviolet imaging telescopes have the same spatial resolution as those of NASA’s Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO), which takes high-resolution images of the Sun from an orbit close to Earth. Because we are currently at half the distance to the Sun, our images have twice SDO’s resolution during this perihelion,” says Daniel.

>Ultraviolet n. 紫外線

>Spatial adj. 空間的

“我們的紫外線成像望遠(yuǎn)鏡擁有與NASA的太陽(yáng)動(dòng)力學(xué)天文臺(tái)（SDO）相同的空間分辨率。太陽(yáng)動(dòng)力學(xué)天文臺(tái)能在地球軌道拍攝高分辨率的圖像。在通過(guò)近日點(diǎn)時(shí)，因?yàn)槲覀兲幱谌盏鼐嚯x的一半，我們的圖像將會(huì)有SDO圖像的兩倍的分辨率?！钡つ釥栒f(shuō)。

The primary objective of these early observations is to prove that Solar Orbiter’s telescopes are ready for future scientific observations.

這些早期觀測(cè)的主要目標(biāo)在于證明太陽(yáng)環(huán)繞器上的望遠(yuǎn)鏡都已為接下來(lái)的科學(xué)觀測(cè)做好萬(wàn)全的準(zhǔn)備。

“For the first time, we will be able to put together the images from all our telescopes and see how they take complementary data of the various parts of the Sun including the surface, the outer atmosphere, or corona, and the wider heliosphere around it,” says Daniel.

>Complementary adj. 補(bǔ)充的

>Corona n. 日冕

>Heliosphere n. 日球?qū)?/p>

“這會(huì)是第一次，我們能夠?qū)⑦@幾臺(tái)不同的望遠(yuǎn)鏡的圖像進(jìn)行合成并檢查他們收獲的有關(guān)太陽(yáng)不同結(jié)構(gòu)的補(bǔ)充數(shù)據(jù)，包括太陽(yáng)表面、外層大氣、日冕以及最外層的日球?qū)印！钡つ釥栒f(shuō)。

The scientists will also analyse data from the four in-situ instruments that measure properties of the environment around the spacecraft, such as the magnetic field and the particles making up the solar wind.

這些科學(xué)家也將會(huì)分析來(lái)自四臺(tái)環(huán)境儀器的數(shù)據(jù)，那些儀器監(jiān)測(cè)航天器所處在的環(huán)境的各項(xiàng)性質(zhì)比如由磁場(chǎng)與粒子組成的太陽(yáng)風(fēng)。

“This is the first time that our in-situ instruments operate at such a close distance to the Sun, providing us with a unique insight into the structure and composition of the solar wind,” says Yannis Zouganelis, ESA’s Solar Orbiter Deputy Project Scientist. “For the in-situ instruments, this is not just a test, we are expecting new and exciting results.”

? ? ?“這是首次我們的環(huán)境儀器在距太陽(yáng)如此近的距離下工作，這會(huì)提供我們獨(dú)特的視角來(lái)觀測(cè)太陽(yáng)風(fēng)的結(jié)構(gòu)與組成?！碧?yáng)環(huán)繞器團(tuán)隊(duì)的科學(xué)家雅尼斯?祖加尼里斯說(shuō)，“對(duì)于我們的環(huán)境儀器來(lái)說(shuō)，這不僅僅是一次測(cè)試，我們也十分期待這些新的，令人興奮的結(jié)果?！?/p>

Solar Orbiter, launched on 10 February this year, is completing its commissioning phase on 15 June and will commence its cruise phase, which will last until November 2021. During the main science phase that follows, the spacecraft will get as close as 42 million kilometres to the Sun’s surface, which is closer than the planet Mercury.

>commission v. 調(diào)試

>commence v. 開(kāi)始，著手做

太陽(yáng)環(huán)繞器，在今年二月十日發(fā)射，在六月十五日完成調(diào)試階段，將會(huì)進(jìn)入巡航階段并持續(xù)至2021年十一月。緊接著進(jìn)入主要的科學(xué)探測(cè)階段，探測(cè)器將會(huì)到達(dá)距太陽(yáng)表面四千兩百萬(wàn)公里，這個(gè)距離比水星還要接近太陽(yáng)。

The spacecraft will reach its next perihelion in early 2021. During the first close approach of the main science phase, in early 2022, it will get as close as 48 million kilometres.

探測(cè)器將會(huì)在2021年初再次達(dá)到近日點(diǎn)。在主要科學(xué)探測(cè)期中，將會(huì)在2022年初第一次到達(dá)近日點(diǎn)，屆時(shí)將距離太陽(yáng)四千八百萬(wàn)公里。

Solar Orbiter operators will then use the gravity of Venus to gradually shift the spacecraft’s orbit out of the ecliptic plane, in which the planets of the Solar System orbit. These fly-by manoeuvres will enable Solar Orbiter to look at the Sun from higher latitudes and get the first ever proper view of its poles. Studying the activity in the polar regions will help the scientists to better understand the behaviour of the Sun’s magnetic field, which drives the creation of the solar wind that in turn affects the environment of the entire Solar System.

>manoeuvres n./v. 演習(xí)

>latitudes n. 緯度

太陽(yáng)環(huán)繞器的操作團(tuán)隊(duì)在之后將會(huì)利用金星的引力逐漸改變探測(cè)器的軌道，從與行星軌道平行的橢圓軌道中改出。這些飛越動(dòng)作將會(huì)使探測(cè)器能夠從更高的緯度觀測(cè)太陽(yáng)并能第一次且準(zhǔn)確的觀察太陽(yáng)的極點(diǎn)。對(duì)于太陽(yáng)兩極地區(qū)的研究能讓研究人員更好的了解與太陽(yáng)風(fēng)有關(guān)的太陽(yáng)磁場(chǎng)活動(dòng)，并且研究太陽(yáng)風(fēng)對(duì)整個(gè)太陽(yáng)系環(huán)境的影響。

Since the spacecraft is currently 134 million kilometres from Earth, it will take about a week for all perihelion images to be downloaded via ESA’s 35-m deep-space antenna in Malargüe, Argentina. The science teams will then process the images before releasing them to the public in mid-July. The data from the in-situ instruments will become public later this year after a careful calibration of all individual sensors.

>calibration n. 校準(zhǔn)

盡管探測(cè)器如今距離地球一億三千四百萬(wàn)公里，這將會(huì)花費(fèi)幾個(gè)月時(shí)間通過(guò)ESA在阿根廷馬拉格的35米深空探測(cè)天線在來(lái)下載所有近日點(diǎn)時(shí)的圖片。太陽(yáng)環(huán)繞器的科學(xué)團(tuán)隊(duì)將在七月中旬公布這些圖像前先處理分析它們。環(huán)境儀器的數(shù)據(jù)將會(huì)在精密校準(zhǔn)每一個(gè)傳感器后在年底被公開(kāi)。

“We have a nine-hour download window every day but we are already very far from Earth so the data rate is much lower than it was in the early weeks of the mission when we were still very close to Earth,” says Daniel. “In the later phases of the mission, it will occasionally take up to several months to download all the data because Solar Orbiter really is a deep space mission. Unlike near-Earth missions, we can store a lot of data on-board and downlink it when we are closer to home again and the data connection is much better.”?

“我們每天會(huì)有九小時(shí)的下載窗口，但探測(cè)器已經(jīng)離地球很遠(yuǎn)，因此下載速率比任務(wù)剛開(kāi)始，距離地球很近時(shí)慢很多。”丹尼爾說(shuō)，“在接下來(lái)的任務(wù)階段，由于太陽(yáng)環(huán)繞器是一個(gè)深空探測(cè)項(xiàng)目，有時(shí)需要幾個(gè)月時(shí)間來(lái)下載數(shù)據(jù)。與近地項(xiàng)目不同，我們能夠在探測(cè)器上儲(chǔ)存一些數(shù)據(jù)并在距離地球較近，數(shù)據(jù)鏈接更好的時(shí)候傳輸數(shù)據(jù)。”

個(gè)人翻譯，原文來(lái)自ESA

http://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Solar_Orbiter/Solar_Orbiter_makes_first_close_approach_to_the_Sun