Astronomers may be preparing to announce the discovery of a planet similar to Earth that has been found orbiting another star.

　　航天員們或許準備發表聲明，稱發現和地球很相似的星球圍繞另一個星球轉。

　　Nasa is due to hold a news conference on Thursday to reveal the latest discoveries from its Kepler Space Telescope, which has been scouring the skies for planets outside our own solar system。

　　NASA本周四召開一個新聞發布會宣布其開普勒太空望遠鏡的發現，這個望遠鏡在我們太陽系外一直在尋找星球。

　　The telescope has discovered more than 1,000 of these so-called exoplanets since it was launched in 2009.

　　該望遠鏡自2009年試用以來，已經有超過1000個所謂的外星球。

　　In its announcement for the press conference, Nasa suggested it could be about to reveal the discovery of ’another Earth’。

　　在其新聞發布會的聲明中，NASA 建議說是時候宣布他們發現“另一星球”的消息了。

　　It said:‘The first exoplanet orbiting another star like our sun was discovered in 1995.’

　　該聲明說：他們在1995年第一次發現星球。

　　’Exoplanets, especially small Earth-size worlds, belonged within the realm of science fiction just 21 years ago。

　　“外星球，特別是和地球差不多的星球，早在21年前就歸入了科幻小說的范圍”

　　’Today, and thousands of discoveries later, astronomers are on the cusp of finding something people have dreamed about for thousands of years - another Earth.’

　　“今天，包括今后的成千上萬的發現，航天人將會發現很多人多年的夢想—另一個星球”

　　Orbiting around the sun around 93 million miles (150 million km) from Earth, the Kepler Space Telescope has discovered 1,028 planets and 4,661 candidate planets during its mission。

　　圍繞太陽運轉的距離太陽九萬三千英里內，開普勒望遠鏡已經發現1028個星球和4661個疑似星球。

　　It has been searching six specific areas of the sky for minute changes in the brightness of stars that may indicate a planet, or planets, passing in front it。

　　開普勒望遠鏡在星空中已經搜索了6個特定區域，從星球的亮度上去發現一些微小的變化，來判斷他們是不是星球。

　　By watching these fluctuations in brightness, it is possible to work out the size and orbit of a planet in relation to its star。

　　通過觀察星球亮度的變化，航天員可以計算出和星星相關的星球的大小和軌道。

　　So far astronomers have discovered eight planets that could be candidates for life using data beamed back by the telescope。

　　目前，航天員利用望遠鏡得來的光源數據已經發現了可能存在生命跡象的8個星球。

　　Many of those planets in the so-called habitable zone – the area around a star where liquid water might form on a planet’s surface – most are at least 40% larger than Earth。

　　許多這些星球被稱為可居住區—在星球的表層，液體水形成了星球的表面—很多星球比地球大40%以上。

　　Last year astronomers announced the telescope had spotted its first Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone of another star。

　　去年就有航天員稱：望遠鏡已經在另一個星球的可居住區第一次發現了和地球大小差不多的星球。