Astronomers (n.天文學家) have confirmed (v.證實) the existence of an Earth(n.地球)-like planet (n.行星) in the "habitable (adj.宜居住的) zone" around a star (n.恆星) not unlike (adj.不相似的) our own.
The planet, Kepler(n.開普勒)-22b, lies (v.位於) about 600 light-years (n.光年) away and is about 2.4 times the size of Earth, and has a temperature of about 22℃.
However, the team does not yet (adv.尚（未）) know if Kepler-22b is made mostly (adv.主要地) of rock, gas or liquid.
During the conference (n.會議) at which the result was announced, the Kepler team also said that it had spotted (v.發現) some (adv.大約) 1,094 new candidate (n.候選者) planets.
The Kepler space telescope (n.望遠鏡) is sensitive (adj.靈敏的) enough to see when a planet passes in front of its host (n.宿主) star, dimming (v.使暗淡) the star's light by a minuscule (adj.微小的) amount.
The Kepler team had to wait for three passes (n.經過) of the planet before upping (v.提升) its status (n.地位) from "candidate" to "confirmed (adj.已證實的)".
Kepler-22b lies 15% closer to its sun (n.主星) than the Earth is to our Sun (n.太陽), and its year takes about 290 days. However, the planet's host star puts out (v.產生) about 25% less light, keeping the planet at its balmy (adj.暖和宜人的) temperature that would support the existence of liquid water.
(BBC, December 5)
天文學家證實，在一顆跟我們太陽頗相似的恆星附近的“宜居帶”，有一顆與地球相似的行星。
這顆行星叫“開普勒-22b”，距離我們大約六百光年，體積大約是地球的二點四倍，溫度大約是攝氏二十二度。
然而，研究隊伍尚未知道“開普勒-22b”的主要成分是石頭、氣體還是液體。
開普勒隊伍在一個會議中公布這項結果，並透露新發現了大約一千零九十四顆候選行星。
當一顆行星在它的主星前經過時，主星的光度會輕微減弱。開普勒太空望遠鏡十分靈敏，可以觀測到這個現象。
開普勒隊伍要等待行星這樣經過三次，才會把它的地位從“候選者”提升到“已證實”。
“開普勒-22b”與主星的距離，較地球與我們太陽之間的距離近百分之十五，而它的一年大約有二百九十天。然而，這顆行星的主星比太陽產生的光度少約百分之二十五，令行星溫度暖和宜人，適合液態水的出現。
閱讀指引
1. planet (n) /'pl?紓n?笈t/，PLAN-nit 行星
解讀：一個類似太陽系（Solar System）的系統主要有兩種星體，一種是在中央的star（恆星），另一種就是圍繞這顆主星（host star）運行的planet（行星）；留意planet的末音節並非讀如-net，而是-nit。
2. habitable (adj) /'h?紓b?笈t?瑆bl/，HAB-bit-ta-bl 宜居住的、適合棲居的
解讀：動詞inhabit解作居住、棲居，例如︰Polar bears inhabit this region（北極熊在這地區棲居）；inhabit的形容詞可以是inhabitable，但也可以是文中的habitable，意思都是指宜居住的；反義詞則是uninhabitable（不宜居住的）。
3. minuscule (adj) /'m?笈n?瑆skju:l/，MIN-nuss-kewl 微小的、極小的
解讀：minuscule的原義是字母的小寫，後來引申指微小的、極小的，即extremely small；另一個意思和拼法都相近的字是minute（這時讀如my-NEWT）；美國人也會把minuscule讀如min-NUSS-kewl。
