Researchers have observed a huge planet in another solar system that they say likely receives rain in the form of hot, liquid iron.
研究人員已經觀察到另一個太陽系中的一顆巨大行星,他們稱這顆行星很可能以高溫液態鐵的形式接收雨水。
The world is an exoplanet -- a planet that orbits a star outside our own solar system.
這顆行星是系外的--是繞太陽系之外的某一顆恆星運行的行星。
The exoplanet, called WASP-76b, is made mainly of gas.
這顆被稱為WASP-76b的系外行星主要由氣體構成。
WASP- 76b sits about 640 light years away from Earth.
WASP-76b距離地球約640光年。
It is nearly two times the size of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system.
這顆行星的大小是木星的兩倍，可以說是太陽系中最大的一個行星。
WASP-76b is part of a family of exoplanets consiidered“ultra-hot”gas giants.
WASP- 76b是被認為是系外行星家族一“超高溫”氣體巨星中的一員。
The planet is extremely hot because it is very close to its parent star, which is almost twice as bigas our sun.
這顆行星溫度很高，因為它離其母星非常近，而其母星幾乎是太陽的兩倍大。
WASP-76b takes as long to go around its axis as it does to go around the star.
WASP-76b繞軸一週的時間和繞恆星-周的時間一樣長。
The result is temperatures of more than 2,400 degrees Celsius on the planet's star-facing side.
這致使這顆行星面向恆星一側的溫度超過了2400攝氏度。
This makes WASP-76b one of the most extreme exoplanets in terms of its climate and chemistry.
這使得WASP-76b成為了氣候和化學方面最極端的系外行星之一。
Researchers from Switzerland and other parts of Europe observed WASP-76b with a powerful telescope belonging to the European Southern Observatory.
來自瑞士和歐洲其他地區的研究人員利用一架歐洲南方天文臺的強大望遠鏡觀測到了WASP-76b。
The observatory is based in Chile. It provides astronomy support to a number of European countries.
該天文臺設在智利。為許多歐洲國家提供天文學支持。
Instruments attached to the observatory's Very Large Telescope helped collect information about the exoplanet.
天文臺超大望遠鏡上的儀器有助於收集有關這顆系外行星的信息。
Research findings were recently published in the journal Nature.
研究結果最近發表在《自然》雜誌上。
Scientists have learned that the planet is so hot that molecules separate from atoms.
科學家們已經瞭解到，這顆行星溫度很高，以至於分子與原子分離。
The extreme heat also causes metals, like iron, to evaporate into the atmosphere.
高溫還使鐵等金屬蒸發到大氣中。
The researchers say the iron likely changes into liquid on the cooler side of the planet,and then almost surely turns into rain.
研究人員表示，在這顆行星較冷的一側，鐵可能變成液體，然後幾乎肯定會變成雨水。
Christophe Lovis of the University of Geneva was one of the lead researchers of the study.
日內瓦大學的克里斯托夫.洛維斯是這項研究的主要研究人員之一。
He told The Associated Press that such a process is thought to produce “droplets of metal falling from the sky."
他告訴美聯社，這樣的過程被認為會產生“從天上掉下來的金屬液滴”。
The research team believes that the iron rain is likely to be extremely dense and strong.
研究小組認為，鐵雨的運行軌跡和週期好像很密集和強烈。
Lovis said,“It's like in the heavy steel industry on Earth where they melt iron,
洛維斯說，“打個比方，相當於重鋼工業中熔鐵技術，
and so you see this melting, flowing metal.
所以你看到了這種熔化、流動的金屬。
That's pretty much what we are talking about here.
”這就是我們現在所談論的。
David Ehrenreich is a University of Geneva astronomer who helped lead the research.
大衛.埃倫裡奇是日內瓦大學的天文學家，他幫助領導了這項研究。
He told the Reuters news agency that this kind of hot, iron rain might only happen on ultra-hot exoplanets.
他告訴路透社，這種高溫鐵雨可能只發生在超高溫的系外行星上。
“The extreme atmospheric conditions met in WASP-76b and its siblings - other ‘ultra-hot' gas giants - are not found anywhere in our solar system and would be very difficult to reproduce in a lab," Ehrenreich said.
埃倫裡奇說:“WASP-76b及其兄弟姐妹一-其他超高溫氣體巨星一-所滿 足的極端大氣條件在我們太陽系的任何地方都找不到，在實驗室裡也很難再現。”
Astrophysicist Maria Rosa Zapatero Osorio of the Center for Astrobiology in Madrid, Spain, was also part of the research team.
西班牙馬德里天體生物學中心的天體物理學家瑪麗亞.羅莎.薩帕特羅.奧索里奧也是這個研究小組的成員。
She said of the findings: “The‘zoo' of planetary systems is far beyond our expectations.”
她談到這些發現時稱:“行星系統的混亂狀態遠遠超出了我們的預期。”
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