不管你叫它什么，冥王星是一个有趣的物体，这就是为什么NASA有一个叫作新地平线的飞船朝着它和它的柯伊伯带同伴迅速地移动即使现在。
No matter what you call it, Pluto is one interesting body, which is why NASA has a spaceship called New Horizons zooming toward it and its Kuiper Belt companions even now.
譬如说今日的(左上图)，气体巨型星海王星的重力通过对轨道就在行星们不远处的柯伊伯带的结冰尘埃和残骸拉扯制造出数个缺口。
Today (top left), for example, the gravity of the gas giant Neptune creates gaps by tugging at the icy dust and debris of the Kuiper belt, which orbits just beyond the planets.
十年前，当他和海登天文馆的成员们重新设计馆内展品时，他们把冥王星划入了柯伊伯带天体的集团中，还不是与八大行星在一起。
A decade ago, when he and the Hayden staff redesigned the planetarium's exhibits, they lumped Pluto with the Kuiper Belt objects rather than with the eight official planets.
冥王星、厄里斯和许多其他柯伊伯带的天体对于八大行星来说太不同了，无法归为一类，他说。
Pluto, Eris and the many other Kuiper Belt objects are far too different to be lumped in with the eight official planets, he said.
冥王星现在被认定为一颗处于柯伊伯带中的矮行星。
Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet dwelling in the Kuiper belt.
一项对柯伊伯带-太阳系学海王星轨道之外的远距区域的调查，找到了三个新的冰封世界，可能像冥王星那样的矮星。
A new survey of the Kuiper belt - the distant area of the solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune - has turned up three new icy worlds that may be dwarf planets like Pluto.
在宽广且模糊的柯伊伯带中，微粒彼此碰撞的几率不大，因此它们会慢慢被海王星的引力共振所俘获，时间非常漫长。
In today's wide, fuzzy Kuiper belt, the particles don't meet very often, so they stick around long enough to fall into resonances with Neptune.
海王星轨道以外有一个被称之为太阳系的柯伊伯带的区域，接下来的几十年内，在这个区域中靠近冥王星的位置科学家接连发现了许多和冥王星相似的星体。
Over the decades scientists continued to find similarly large objects in Pluto's neighborhood, a region of the solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune called the Kuiper belt.
目前只有5颗小行星被确认为矮行星，包括柯伊伯带里最有名的星体——冥王星。
So far there are just five confirmed dwarf planets, including the most famous Kuiper Belt object, Pluto.
“我把冥王星与其他柯伊伯带冰态天体归为一类，”纽约海登天文馆的负责人Neil deGrasse Tyson说，“我认为它在那更合适，真的。
"I group Pluto with the other icy bodies in the Kuiper Belt," said Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of New York City's Hayden Planetarium. "I think it's happier there, actually.
这些尘埃云来自柯伊伯带(Kuiper belt)，柯伊伯带是海王星之外的一片区域，充满了小型的冰封物体，冥王星就包括在柯伊伯带中。
The cloud of dust comes from the Kuiper belt, the region beyond Neptune that contains small, icy bodies, including Pluto.
上个月底，一位来自贝尔法斯特（北爱尔兰首府，最大海港，译者注）皇后大学的天文学家的研究表明，在柯伊伯带中最大而奇怪的天体，守护石星（Haumea，小行星136108，这颗小行星并没有官方的中文译名，这个译名是我参考其他用法拟的，不当之处请指正。 译者注）的表面存在着红点。
Late last month, an astronomer from Queen’s University in Belfast reported the existence of a red spot on the surface of Haumea, one of the largest and weirdest objects in the Kuiper Belt.
NASA的新地平线计划准备在2015飞过冥王星时，去拜访一下柯伊伯带上的一两颗小行星。
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft intends to visit one or two of them after it flies past Pluto in 2015.
但天文学家们不必等那久来证实他们对太阳系外层的理解。斯卡德和他的团队已经掌握了其它柯伊伯带星体的掩星。
Astronomers won't have to wait that long to firm up their understanding of the outer solar system, though: Sicardy and his team already have occultations in hand from other Kuiper Belt objects.
科学家们在柯伊伯带不断发现越来越大的天体。加州理工学院的天文学家麦克·布朗和他的团队发现的2005FY 9仅比冥王星小一点点。
Astronomers had been turning up larger and larger objects in the Kuiper Belt. 2005 FY9, discovered by Caltech astronomer Mike Brown and his team is only a little smaller than Pluto.
现在大家知道，冥王星及其卫星们只是被称作柯伊伯带的天体群中较大的例子，和太阳系其他行星不同，不是其所在区域的唯一行星。
Instead of being the only planet in its region, like the rest of the Solar System, Pluto and its moons are now known to be just a large example of a collection of objects called the Kuiper Belt.
现在大家知道，冥王星及其卫星们只是被称作柯伊伯带的天体群中较大的例子，和太阳系其他行星不同，不是其所在区域的唯一行星。
Instead of being the only planet in its region, like the rest of the Solar System, Pluto and its moons are now known to be just a large example of a collection of objects called the Kuiper Belt.
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