#大学英语听力#
Uranus is quite the individual.
天王星是个很有个性的人。
Most of the planets in our Solar System have their poles more or less oriented in the same direction.
我们太阳系中的大多数行星的极点都或多或少地朝向同一个方向。
And most of them are spinning anticlockwise, when viewed from above.
从上面看，它们中的大多数都是逆时针旋转的。
But Uranus? Its rotation axis is oriented 98 degrees relative to its orbit, and it's whirling around in a clockwise direction.
但是天王星呢？它的角旋转轴相对于它的轨道定向为98度，它在顺时针方向旋转。
The leading hypothesis for this weirdness is that something large smacked into Uranus a long time ago, knocking it arse over teakettle.
这种怪异的主要假设是，很久以前有什么大东西撞上了天王星，把它撞到了茶壶上。
Although that scenario is not impossible, there are some pretty significant holes in this model.
尽管这种情况不是不可能的，但在这个模型中有一些非常重要的漏洞。
Never fear, though.
不过，不要害怕。
Astronomers at the University of Maryland have come up with a new scenario that neatly solves those issues.
马里兰大学(University Of Maryland)的天文学家提出了一个新的方案，可以很好地解决这些问题。
No, Uranus didn't get drunk on comet booze and fall over.
不，天王星没有喝醉彗星酒而摔倒。
But it could have been tilted sideways by a giant ring system.
但它可能是被一个巨大的环状系统倾斜的。
"Wait a second," you are no doubt thinking, "Uranus doesn't have a giant ring system." And that's correct.
“等一下，”你一定会想，“天王星没有一个巨大的光环系统。”这是正确的。
Right now, it doesn't - its rings are faint and wispy things compared to Saturn's glorious spread.
现在，它不是-它的光环与土星辉煌的传播相比是微弱的和细小的东西。
But recent evidence from Cassini suggests rings could be temporary and short-lived - so it's possible Uranus had a much more extensive system sometime over its 4.5 billion-year past.
但最近来自卡西尼号的证据表明，光环可能是暂时的，而且是短暂的-因此，在其45亿年前的某个时候，天王星可能有一个更广泛的系统。
The problems with the smacked-upside model have mainly to do with the stuff around the planet.
撞击式正面模型的问题主要与地球周围的东西有关。
Neptune, for instance.
例如海王星。
If you look at the excellent video below, you'll see that Neptune and Uranus have a similar spin period.
如果你看下面这段精彩的视频，你会看到海王星和天王星有一个相似的自旋周期。
The similarity of these spin periods implies that - as with Jupiter and Saturn - the two planets were born together.
这些自转周期的相似性意味着-就像木星和土星-这两颗行星是一起诞生的。
The probability of similar spin periods becomes much lower if you factor in one or more impacts large enough to tip Uranus sideways.
如果你考虑到一个或多个足以使天王星倾斜的冲击，那么相似自旋周期的概率就会变得低得多。
Uranus' moons are a problem too.
天王星的卫星也是个问题。
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