[另类][国家地理]本周太空图片

  

001.Alpine Night

 001.阿尔卑斯山之夜

Photograph courtesy NASA

图片来源：NASA

Moonlight glints off coastal waters along the France-Italy border (map) in a picture snapped by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station in late April.

4月末，国际空间站上一名宇航员拍摄到沿法-意边境月光映照下的沿海水域。

Snow-capped Alpine peaks are visible as dim gray blotches near a bright concentration of lights at left—the Italian city of Torino (Turin).

图中左侧的灯火集中区是意大利托里诺市（都灵）。附近积雪覆盖的阿尔卑斯山峰看上去就像暗灰色的斑点。

A similar beacon of urban life at center-bottom is Lyon, France, which links to a small dot of light along the coast—the port city of Marseille. The French-held island of Corsica appears as a dark mass rimmed with light near the top of the frame.

图的中下部，同样照亮城市生活区的是法国里昂，与之相连的沿海小光点是港口城市马赛。图片上部的法属科西嘉岛好似镶了光边的黑团。

Published June 1, 2010

002.Galactic Jet

002.星系射流

Image courtesy T. Pyle, JPL-Caltech/NASA

图片来源： T. Pyle, JPL-Caltech/NASA

Powerful jets of gas shoot out from the center of a galaxy in an artist's depiction. Such jets are produced as orbiting matter falls into the supermassive black holes at the centers of every galaxy.

一个星系中央以艺术家渲染的方式喷射出强大的气流。当沿轨道运行的物质落入每个星系中央的超重黑洞时，就会产生这样的射流。

The closer matter gets to a supermassive black hole, the more gravity compresses the matter. As a result, radiation spews outward and gets corralled into high-speed jets by nearby magnetic fields. (Related: "'Death Star' Galaxy Found Blasting Smaller Neighbor.")

这种物质越接近超重黑洞，承受的引力越大。结果，它喷射而出，在附近磁场的作用下形成高速射流。

A new study suggests that the most powerful jets come from "backward" black holes—those that spin in opposite directions from their host galaxies. That's because the backward rotation puts more space between the black hole and the orbiting matter, leaving more room for magnetic fields to build up, the study authors say.

一项新的研究证明，最强大的射流来自“反向的”黑洞——那些朝其宿主星系反方向旋转的黑洞。研究报告的作者说，因为反向旋转在黑洞和沿轨道运行物质之间形成更大的空间，也就为磁场的形成留下了更多的空间。

Published June 1, 2010

003.Oil in the Delta

003.密西西比河三角洲的石油

Image courtesy NASA

图片来源：NASA

A false-color picture released May 26 shows the tip of the Mississippi River Delta branching like tree roots into the Gulf of Mexico, as silvery sheens of oil from the recent Deepwater Horizon spill touch the coasts.

5月26日发布的一张红外线彩色照片显示，随着深海地平线最近泄漏的石油闪着银光抵达河岸，密西西比河三角洲一角像树根一样分流，注入墨西哥湾。

Taken by a thermal imager aboard a NASA satellite, the picture shows vegetation in deep red and water in light blue. The smooth surfaces of oil slicks act like mirrors, reflecting sunlight to create the bright swirls. The cause of the dark patch at left is unknown, according to NASA, although the darkness could be due to changes in water motion, changes in salinity, or content such as chemical dispersants or organic matter.

由NASA星载热成像器拍摄的这张照片显示出深红色的植物和淡蓝色的水。浮油光滑的表面起到了镜面的作用，反射阳光形成明亮的漩涡。左边黑色斑块的成因尚不明确，不过，据美国宇航局说，这些黑色区域可能是因水流动向变化、盐度变化，或如如化学分散剂或有机物质成份变化引起的。

Published June 1, 2010

004.Crumpled Moon

004.摺皱的月亮

Photograph courtesy NASA

图片来源：NASA

This time it's no paper moon—the actual moon appears to crumple at one end due to distortions caused by Earth's atmosphere, as seen in a picture taken May 29 by Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi. (Take a moon mysteries and myths quiz.)

这可不是纸折的月亮——这是因地球大气引起扭曲，使真正的月亮一端看似起皱。本图由日本宇航员野口宗千于5月29日拍摄。

From his vantage point aboard the International Space Station, Noguchi captured the moon as it rose over Earth's dark horizon, later dedicating the shot to all "moon lovers" via his Twitter feed.

野口宗千利用在国际空间站上的优势，在月亮从地球黑暗的地平线上升起时捕捉到这个景象，后来通过自己的Twitter与所有“月亮爱好者”分享。

Published June 1, 2010

005.Mars's Polar Canyon

005.火星的极地峡谷