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Our Milky Way galaxy has two large satellite galaxies orbiting it. They're known as the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. And humans have been aware of the existence of these celestial objects for at least a millennium.
有两大卫星星系环绕着我们的银河系转动。它们以大小麦哲伦云为人们所知。人类意识到这些天体的存在至少有一千年了。
Recently, researchers were curious about whether our configuration is fairly typical, or an astronomical anomaly. In other words, is our corner of the cosmos ordinary?
近期，研究者对银河系的构造表示好奇。我们的星系是非常典型的宇宙产物，还是异常的天文现象？换句话说，我们这个宇宙的一角平常吗？
Now a new study finds that the Milky Way and its companion galaxies are an unusual combination, but they're not one of a kind.
现今，一项新的研究发现银河系及其卫星星系是不同寻常的组合。但也不是独一无二的。
Astronomers in the U.K. and Australia looked at thousands of galaxies to try to find an analogue of our arrangement. The search turned up two close replicas: each with a Milky Way–like galaxy accompanied by two galaxies comparable to the Magellanic Clouds.
英国和澳洲的天文学家观察了上千个星系，试图找到另一处类似于银河系的排列。这次研究找到了两个类似的星系：每个星系均像银河系一样，环绕着能与麦哲伦云相媲美的卫星星系。
But the researchers also concluded that such arrangements are pretty rare. Only half a percent of Milky Way–like galaxies have companions like ours.
但研究人员也作出结论，这样在排列方式相当少见。只有0.5%的星系像我们银河系一样有同伴。
The Magellanic Clouds may be transitory features. In a few billion years the Milky Way may absorb them completely. So someday our corner of the cosmos could be pretty ordinary after all.
麦哲伦云可能是暂时性的天文特征。再过几十亿年，银河就会完全将它们吞没。因此，到那天我们这个宇宙一角会变得很普通。
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