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1、A级： +第四＋五篇SmallButWiseOnDecember14,NASA1blastedasmallbutmightytelescopeintospace.ThetelescopeiscalledWISEandisaboutaswidearoundasatrashcan.Don'tletitssmallsizefoolyou:WISEhasapowerfuldigitalcamera,anditwillbetakingpicturesofsomethewildestobjects2intheknownuniverse,includingaste
2、roids,faintstars,blazinggalaxies3andgiantcloudsofdustwhereplanetsandstarsareborn."I'mveryexcitedbecausewe'regoingtobeseeingpartsoftheuniversethatwehaven'tseenbefore,"saidNedWright,ascientistwhodirectstheWISEproject.Sincearrivinginspace,theWISEtelescopehasbeencirclingtheEarth,he
3、ldbygravityinapolarorbit4(thismeansitcrossesclosetothenorthandsouthpoleswitheachlap5).Itscameraispointedoutward,awayfromtheEarth,andWISEwillsnapapictureofadifferentpartoftheskyevery11minutes.Aftersixmonthsitwillhavetakenpicturesacrosstheentiresky.ThepicturestakenbyWISEwon'tbeli
4、keeverydaydigitalphotographs,however.WISEstandsfor"Wide-fieldInfraredSurveyExplorer."Asitsnamesuggests,theWISEcameratakespicturesoffeaturesthatgiveoffinfraredradiation6.Radiationisenergythattravelsasawave.Visiblelight,includingthefamiliarspectrumoflight7thatbecomesvisibleinarai
5、nbow,isanexampleofradiation.Whenanordinarydigitalcameratakesapictureofatree,forexample,itreceivesthewavesofvisiblelightthatarereflectedoffthetree.Whenthesewavesenterthecamerathroughthelens,they'reprocessedbythecamera,whichthenputstheimagetogether.Wavesofinfraredradiationarelong
6、erthanwavesofvisiblelight,soordinarydigitalcamerasdon'tseethem,andneitherdotheeyesofhumanbeings.Althoughinvisibletotheeye,longerinfraredradiationcanbedetectedaswarmthbytheskin.That'sakeyideatowhyWISEwillbeabletoseethingsothertelescopescan't.Noteverythingintheuniverseshowsupinvi
7、siblelight.Asteroids,forexample,aregiantrocksthatfloatthroughspace一buttheyabsorbmostofthelightthatreachesthem.Theydon'treflectlight,sothey'redifficulttosee.Buttheydogiveoffinfraredradiation,soaninfraredtelescopelikeWISEwillbeabletoproduceimagesofthem.DuringitsmissionWISEwilltak
8、epicturesofhundredsofthousandsofasteroids.Browndwarfs8
