|
The world's largest ever digital camera has become operational in an observatory in Chile. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope camera was funded by U.S. government agencies. The enormous device was installed in the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in the South American nation. Astronomers will now commence a period of testing. They will use the camera to observe the southern hemisphere skies over the next decade. The Department of Energy's Office of Science commented on how momentous the completion of the telescope was. It called the camera "a triumph of science and engineering". It added: "We look forward to seeing the unprecedented images this camera will produce."
The camera is the size of a small car and weighs 2,721 kg. It has a massive 3-billion-pixel sensor. In comparison, today's top-of-the-range smartphone cameras have 200 million pixels. Astronomers will repeatedly scan the sky to take time-lapse images of space. Lead researcher Aaron Roodman said: "We like to say that we're going to make a colour movie of the entire Southern Hemisphere sky." In particular, he hopes to capture images that will shed light on how galaxies formed. Roodman's team will also investigate dark matter – the invisible substance that makes up a significant portion of the universe. In addition, the camera will map our Milky Way galaxy in greater detail than ever before.
Synoptic /sɪˈnɑːptɪk/：全景式观测（源自希腊语"syn-共同"+"optikos视觉"）
Time-lapse：延时摄影（对比：slow-motion慢动作）
Dark matter：暗物质（宇宙中84.5%的神秘存在）
Galaxy formation：星系形成（搭配动词：capture/shed light on）
“...has become operational” → 设备投入使用的万能句式
“shed light on” → 揭示奥秘的学术用语
“top-of-the-range” → 顶配产品的商业术语
Momentous：重大时刻（近义词：epoch-making）
Unprecedented：史无前例（前缀un-表否定）
Hemisphere：半球（hemi-半 + sphere球体）
现在完成时：has become operational
被动语态：was funded by...
将来进行时：will be mapping...
翻译挑战：
"The camera will map our Milky Way galaxy in greater detail than ever before."
这台相机将以史无前例的精度绘制银河系星图
（注意比较级"greater detail"的灵活处理）
尝试用新闻中的表达造句：
The newly developed telescope sheds light on the formation of dark matter.
➊ 遇到专业术语时，用「词根+联想」记忆（如observatory = observe观察 + -ory场所）
➋ 关注科技新闻中的「数据对比」表达（如3-billion-pixel vs 200-million-pixel）
➌ 每周精读1篇NASA报道，积累10个学术动词
