8 Jupiter’s fireworks

Chapter Eight JUPITER'S FIREWORKS. Roshni and Ollie had front-row seats for the most spectacular cosmic fireworks display they could ever hope to see. They looked out through the spacecraft's windshield, breathless with excitement. The last few seconds were ticking away on the countdown clock. "Three, two, one… zero!" Roshni yelled.

第八章朱庇特的烟火 罗什尼和奥利坐在前排观看了他们所希望看到的最壮观的宇宙烟花表演。 他们透过飞船的挡风玻璃向外看，兴奋得喘不过气来。 倒计时钟上的最后几秒钟滴答作响。 “三，二，一……零！”Roshni喊道。

The first of the comet fragments plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere. A tremendous fireball erupted at the point of impact. Roshni shielded her eyes. This was amazing! Enormous shock waves went rippling out across Jupiter's surface, like rings spreading out on a lake.

第一块彗星碎片坠入了木星的大气层。 一个巨大的火球在撞击点喷发出来。 罗什尼捂着眼睛。这太神奇了！巨大的冲击波在木星表面荡起涟漪，就像在湖面上展开的环。

"How come we can't hear it?" Ollie asked. "An explosion that size ought to be deafening us!" "Because sound waves need air to travel, and there isn't any air in space," Roshni explained. The next fragment went tumbling down into the seething storm. Another gigantic explosion went up. "Look at that," Ollie said. "I bet the ground's shaking down there!" "Jupiter's not solid—it's made of gas," Roshni said. "It might be solid right at the core, but scientists aren't sure about that. There's a lot scientists don't know about space, which is why they need probes like Odin to do investigations." Another fireball expanded across Jupiter's surface. Ollie whistled. "Just

“我们怎么听不到呢？”奥利问道。 “那么大的爆炸应该把我们震聋了！”“因为声波需要空气传播，而太空中没有空气，”Roshni解释说。 下一个碎片滚进了沸腾的风暴中。 又一次巨大的爆炸发生了。 “看那个，”奥利说。 “我敢打赌，那里的地面都在震动！”“木星不是固体——它是由气体构成的，”Roshni说。 “它可能在核心是固体的，但科学家们对此并不确定。 有很多科学家不了解太空，这就是为什么他们需要像奥丁这样的探测器来进行调查。” 另一个火球在木星表面膨胀。 奥利吹口哨。“就

imagine if a comet hit Earth!" "A comet did hit Earth, millions of years ago," Roshni explained. "Well, scientists think it was either a comet or a meteorite. That's why the dinosaurs were all wiped out. The impact shook up our entire planet." "Whoa, really?" "The crater's still there, in Mexico," Roshni said. "Ask Tamiko about it!" Outside, the Odin probe was busily collecting data. Its camera was recording image after image, capturing the moment the comet smashed into Jupiter.

想象一下，如果一颗彗星撞击地球！”“数百万年前，一颗彗星撞击了地球，”Roshni解释说。 “嗯，科学家认为它要么是彗星，要么是陨石。 这就是恐龙灭绝的原因。 这次撞击震动了我们整个星球。” “哇,真的吗?”“火山口还在那里，在墨西哥，”罗什尼说。 “问田美子吧！”屋外，奥丁探测器正忙着收集数据。 它的相机记录了一张又一张的图像，捕捉到了彗星撞向木星的瞬间。

That gave Roshni an idea. "Hey, Beagle, can you tune in to the probe's broadcast channel? We might be able to listen in." BEEEEEEP-BOOP! chirped the Beagle. It sounded like, "Sure thing!" The computer screens in front of them filled up with information. Roshni grinned. They were getting to watch a science broadcast as it happened and learn cool stats just like the scientists back on Earth!

这给了Roshni一个主意。“嘿，小猎犬，你能调到探测器的广播频道吗？” 我们也许能听进去。” BEEEEEEP-BOOP !小猎犬啾啾道。 听起来像是，“当然！”他们面前的电脑屏幕上满是信息。 Roshni咧嘴一笑。他们正在观看科学广播，就像地球上的科学家一样学习很酷的统计数据！

"Look how fast that comet was going when it hit!" Ollie said. "134,000 miles per hour!" Roshni's mind boggled. An Olympic athlete running a hundred-meter dash would get up to about 28 miles per hour. The speedometer in her parents' car only went up to about 110 miles per hour. The speed of sound itself was a stunning 767 miles per hour. But the comet was going more than one hundred and seventy times faster than sound! "No wonder the fragments exploded like that!" she said. "Hey, how hot were those fireballs, anyway?" Ollie tapped the screen and looked confused. "I'm not sure the probe's working right. These figures are incredible." "Incredible how?"

“看那颗彗星撞过来的时候飞得有多快！”欧利说。 “每小时13万4千英里！”罗什尼的脑子都懵了。 一名奥运会运动员跑百米冲刺时的速度将达到每小时28英里左右。 她父母车上的速度计只显示到每小时110英里左右。 声音本身的速度达到了惊人的767英里每小时。 但是彗星的速度比声音的速度快170多倍！“难怪碎片会那样爆炸！”她说。 “嘿，那些火球到底有多热？”奥利轻敲屏幕，一脸困惑。 “我不确定探测器是否正常工作。 这些数字令人难以置信。” “难以置信的如何?”