Title:European Space Agency’s ‘Flyeye’ Telescope Could Spot Asteroids Before They Destroy Life on Earth

If you want to protect the earth from incoming asteroids, you need to see them coming. As asteroids can come from any direction, you need to be looking every which way at once.

如果你想保护地球免遭来自小行星的侵袭，你需要即使观测到小行星的来临，由于小行星可以来自任何方向，你需要眼观八方。

That's where European Space Agency (ESA)'s  "Flyeye"  telescope comes in. Flies have dozens of tiny lenses that connect to the eye's core, so the stereoscopic image can see from almost all sides of the fly at once. That's why it's so hard to sneak up on them. Scientists from the ESA have taken a note from flies and built a telescope that will make it harder for asteroids to sneak up on us. They have built a  "fleyeye"  telescope on Mount Mufara in Sicily, which they hope to finish installing in the year 2020, according to  Popular Mechanics.

欧洲航天局（欧空局）的“飞眼”望远镜就是为应付小行星而设计的。苍蝇拥有数十个与眼睛核心连接的复眼，所以苍蝇能够同时从各个方面看到立体图像。这就是为什么发现它们如此困难，欧空局的科学家已经从苍蝇身上获得的灵感并建造了一台望远镜，这将使小行星更难撞击地球。据大众机械师(Popular Mechanics)的数据，他们已经在西西里的Mufara山上建造了一台“飞眼”望远镜，希望能在2020年完成安装工作。

An illustration shows how the European Space Agency's "Flyeye" telescope would see asteroids before they reach earth.   ESA/A. Baker

举例说明，欧洲航天局的"飞眼"望远镜在到达地球之前将如何看到小行星。

This telescope will put 16 smaller images together, each facing a different part of the sky. As the earth rotates, they can get a somewhat complete view of space. According to a  press release from ESA, it should be able to spot any asteroid more than 40 meters across at least three weeks before it hits earth.

这个望远镜将把16幅较小的图像放在一起，每个图像都面对着天空的不同部分。当地球旋转时，它们能够得到一个相当完整的空间视图。根据欧空局发布的新闻稿，它至少应该在撞击地球之前三周就能探测到超过40米的任何小行星。

Scientists can also calculate the object's trajectory, size and speed to determine when and how it would hit the planet, or if it would pass by as a shooting star.

科学家们还可以计算该物体的轨迹、大小和速度，以确定该物体何时以及如何撞击地球，或者它是否会作为一个射击星通过。

Asteroids can have devastating impacts on a planet, as we know from the one that killed the non-bird dinosaurs. If such an asteroid were to hit while humans live on the planet,  some of us might survive, but there would certainly be widespread destruction. The likelihood of human survival would depend on several factors, including the size of the asteroid, where it hits on the earth, and of course, how long humanity has to prepare.

小行星可能对一个行星产生毁灭性的影响，正如我们从杀死非鸟类恐龙的那种所知道的那样。如果此类小行星在人类生活在地球时被击中，我们中的一些人可能幸存，但肯定将会遭到广泛破坏。人类生存的可能性将取决于几个因素，包括小行星的大小，小行星撞击地球，当然人类需要准备多久。

Luckily, a dangerous asteroid will almost certainly not hit earth any time soon, or at least not within the next century, scientists say. Still, it's useful to be able to see and understand the multitude of asteroids that fly by earth every year.

幸运的是，一个危险的小行星将几乎肯定不会很快撞击地球，至少不会在下个世纪之内，科学家说，尽管如此，能够看到和了解每年从地球飞过的众多小行星是有益的。

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