一顆小行星剛剛近距離劃過地球，比月亮還近

With all the large asteroids hitting the news lately, it would have been easy for a small one to sneak under the radar. In fact, one very nearly did. On April 27, astronomers discovered a new asteroid, a little pixie of a space rock between 4 and 8 metres (13 to 26 feet) across.
最近很多大型小行星登上新聞，小號的小行星就很容易從雷達下溜走。有一顆小行星就差點溜掉了。4月27日，天文學家發現了一顆新的小行星，是一小塊太空岩石，直徑在4到8米（13到26英尺）之間。
It was already close to Earth at this point, and the probability of a collision was calculated at around 10 percent. At its size, it would have burnt up on atmospheric entry, so it posed no threat to humans anyway.
此時已經距離地球很近了，撞擊概率是10%左右。這個尺寸的小行星進入大氣層就會燒燬，所以對人類沒有威脅。
But the asteroid's trajectory would bring it very close to the geostationary ring, the volume of space around Earth in which bodies can maintain geostationary orbit. That space is packed with satellites.
但這顆小行星的軌道使它非常靠近地球靜止環，這是地球周圍的一部分空間，其中的物體可以在地球靜止軌道內運行。這一空間裏到處都是衛星。
On April 28, this asteroid - later named 2020 HS7 - skimmed past Earth at a distance around nine times closer than the average distance of the Moon.
4月28日，這顆後來被命名爲2020 HS7的小行星掠過地球，最近距離比地月平均距離近9倍。
At a distance of 42,735 kilometres (26,554 miles) from the centre of Earth - the Earth-Moon distance is 384,400 kilometres (238,855 miles) from centre to centre on average - 2020 HS7 pulled off one of the closest asteroid flybys we've ever seen.
地心到月球中心的地月平均距離是384,400千米（238,855英里），2020 HS7距地心最近距離是42,735千米（26,554英里），是我們所見過的掠過地球時距離最近的小行星。

And it skimmed the nearest satellite by just 1,200 kilometres (746 miles). That may sound a bit scary, but neither we nor our satellites were in any particular danger.
它與離它最近的衛星之間的距離僅爲1,200千米（746英里）。這可能聽起來有點嚇人，但我們和衛星都沒有太大的危險。
"Small asteroids like 2020 HS7 safely pass by Earth a few times per month," said astronomer Lindley Johnson of NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office just prior to the flyby. "It poses no threat to our planet."
美國國家航空航天局行星防禦協調辦公室的天文學家Lindley Johnson在小行星掠過之前說：“像2020 HS7這樣小型的小行星每個月都會安全掠過地球幾次，對地球並無威脅。”
In fact, 2020 HS7 was a good thing. It allowed scientists to test their detection, observation, follow-up and prediction capabilities on a small near-Earth asteroid. And they showed they were able to predict and track the path of 2020 HS7 with incredible accuracy, even with just a day's notice.
其實2020 HS7掠過是好事，讓科學家能測試一下他們對小型近地小行星的探測、觀測、跟蹤和預測能力。而現在的結果是，即使只是提前一天得知，他們也能以驚人的精度預測並追蹤2020 HS7的路徑。