宇宙（2007）

What are the chances that this remarkable alignment
这万众瞩目的日月地一条线的发生
would happen on a planet at just the time in its history
刚好被另一个行星上的智慧生物
when an intelligent species has evolved to witness
看到并感到好奇而想一探究竟的
and wonder about the results?
发生几率是多少呢
It's interesting to speculate
探究是否在银河系中
whether any other intelligent beings
是否还另有其他智慧生物
in our milky way galaxy experience
也同样经历着这美妙精彩的日全食
such beautiful, perfect, total solar eclipses.
这是一件非常有趣的事情
It's really quite possible that we may be the only
我们或许是宇宙中唯一的
intelligent species in the entire universe that has this kind of alignment,
能够欣赏到此类天体排成一条直线的景观的智慧生物
because it is so specific.
因为这真的太独特了
And while ancient humans once dreaded
古代的人们曾经一度很畏惧
solar eclipses for hiding the Sun.
会把太阳隐藏起来的日食
Another kind of eclipse helped to answer
另一类的蚀现象回答了
what was once a fundamental question:
一个最基本的问题
Is the Earth flat, or is it round?
地球到底是平的还是圆的
The puzzle was solved when the Earth and Moon
当地球和月亮在天空中的角色互换之后
went into a celestial role reversal.
这个谜随即迎刃而解
The result was a lunar eclipse.
那就是月食
By watching the shadow of the Earth pass across the Moon,
当眼看着地球的影子经过月球时
the ancients were able to actually see that
古人们可以真实的看到
the shadow was curved.
影子是呈曲线状
Therefore, they were able to infer that
因此他们能够推断
since the shadow was curved,
既然影子是曲线的
the Earth itself must also be spherical.
那么地球也应当是球形的
The curvature is prominent when only part of
当地球的部分影子穿过月球时
the Earth's shadow passes across the Moon.
影子的弯曲程度格外地明显
But when the Moon is entirely shadowed by the Earth,
当月球完全被地球的影子遮住时
the lunar eclipse is total.
也就发生了月全食
A total lunar eclipse occurs
月全食就发生在
when the Moon passes within the shadow cast by the Earth.
月球移♥动♥到地球的影子当中之后
So the Moon is completely in the shadow of the Earth.
月球整个被地球的影子所遮挡
Everyone from the dark side of the Earth
每个人从地球的背光面
can see the totally eclipsed Moon.
都可以看到月全食
That means a vast population can see a lunar eclipse,
也就是说 很大一部分人都能看到月食
whereas only a small number of people can see a total solar eclipse.
但是只有很少一部分人可以看到日全食
Lunar eclipses also helped scientists
月食能够帮助科学家们
learn about the scattering of light.
探究光的散射
In a total lunar eclipse,
在月全食时
the Moon turns red-orange.
月球变成了橘红色
It is in the Earth's shadow.
月球确实是在地球的影子当中
But some light from the Sun scatters through the atmosphere.
但是一些由太阳散发出来的光线穿过了大气层
The light, passing through a great distance of atmosphere,
光线在大气层中穿透了很大一段距离
turns red just as it does on Earth when the Sun is on the horizon.
因此就像太阳位于地平线时一样也变红了
The light travels through its greatest thickness of atmosphere
光线透过厚实的大气层
and creates a red sunrise or sunset.
形成了日出日落时的红霞
In fact, every kind of eclipse
事实上 每一种蚀现象
has much to teach us about the science of the universe.
都让我们学习到了关于宇宙的科学
In the early 20th century,
在二十世纪早期
one solar eclipse, witnessed at the White House by President Coolidge,
美国总统柯立芝在白宫见证的一次日食
gave us the first confirmation of a prediction
首次证实了一个预言
made by a young scientist named Albert Einstein.
预言来自一位年轻科学家阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦
In 1919, the astronomer Arthur Eddington
1919年 宇航员阿瑟·艾丁顿
went to the location of a total solar eclipse
去到了日全食的观测地
to test a prediction of Einstein's general theory of relativity.
以验证爱因斯坦广义相对论的预言
In 1915, Einstein published his prediction
1915年 爱因斯坦发表了他的预言
that gravity causes space to curve,
引力可以导致空间发生弯曲
and the light from stars would
并且那些由星星发出的光线
bend following that curve.
也会随着空间的弯曲而弯曲
So if there were a star close to the Sun in the sky,
所以 当空中的一颗星星靠近太阳时
its light would be bent by the Sun's gravity.
它的光线会由于受到太阳的引力而弯曲
The only way to test Einstein's prediction
唯一能够检验爱因斯坦预言的方法
was during an eclipse, when the Sun was darkened
就是等到日食 当太阳变暗
and the nearby stars were visible.
并且周围的星星都看不到的时候
Eddington knew the accurate position of a star
艾丁顿深知 一颗应当会被太阳挡住
that should have been blocked by the Sun.
的星星所在的具体♥位♥置
But if the Sun's gravity bent the star's light,
但是如果太阳的引力弯曲了星星的光线
as Einstein said,
就如爱因斯坦所说
it would be seen as if it were in a different position altogether.
看起来这颗星星将会出现在另一个位置
Eddington measured that, he saw that,
艾丁顿测量出并且目睹了这一现象
thus confirming, for the first time,
从而首次证实了
a prediction of Einstein's general theory of relativity.
爱因斯坦的广义相对论所作出的预言
But the greatest scientific benefit of total solar eclipses
但是日全食对于科学探索的最大贡献是
is the view they give us of the Sun's corona,
日全食让我们看到了日冕
which is otherwise invisible to us.
它原本是无法看到的
Without the occurrence of total solar eclipses,
如果没有日全食的发生
it's really questionable today
我们甚至可能
whether we would actually even know that the Sun had a corona,
连太阳外♥围♥有一层日冕都不知道
an outer, hot, tenuous atmosphere.
那是一层在外♥围♥的炙热稀薄的气体
The solar disk is a million times brighter
太阳表面的亮度
than the surrounding corona.
是周围日冕的一百万倍
And so if you don't block that out,
如果不将太阳表面遮挡住
you can't visibly see the corona.
你根本看不到日冕
For us to be able to observe the corona is important
对于我们而言 观测到日冕之所以重要
because otherwise we wouldn't know
是因为否则我们就不知道
that this layer of the solar atmosphere extends out into space.
太阳大气的这一层向外绵延至太空中
And, in fact, we're embedded, here on Earth,
事实上 我们在地球上
in the solar atmosphere in the extended solar corona.
是被太阳向外延伸的大气层日冕所包围的
For more than three centuries after the invention of the telescope,
在望远镜发明后的三百多年里
astronomers rushed to far flung locations all over the world
天文学家跑遍全世界
just to spend a few minutes observing, studying
只是为了花几分钟观察研究
and analyzing the mysterious corona.
和分♥析♥神秘的日冕
And it stayed that way until the technological leap
这种状态持续到科学技术的飞跃
that gave mankind the power to make its own eclipses.
可以实现人造日食
These artificial eclipses revealed something totally unexpected:
这些人造日食揭示了一些完全出乎意料的事情
Eruptions in space that turned out
被证明是太阳系最剧烈的爆♥炸♥的
to be the greatest explosions in the solar system.
日冕喷发活动
Eclipses of every kind have proven to be keys
形形色♥色♥的日食被证明是
to unlocking many of the secrets scattered across the universe.
解开宇宙中各种秘密的钥匙
Eclipses reveal planets circling distant stars,
日食让我们发现遥远星系的行星
and solar storms posing dangers to Earth, worse than we can imagine.
以及太阳风暴对地球的破坏力超乎我们想象
The Sun's threats are hidden in the corona,
太阳的威胁隐藏在日冕中
which appears on Earth only during a total eclipse.
地球上只有在日全食时才能观察到它
It happens only once every 16 months on average,
它平均十六个月才发生一次
at places scattered across the entire globe,
而且地球上只有有限的地方能观察到
not nearly enough for monitoring such a deadly hazard.
远不足以让我们发现这种致命的危险
Out in space, though, satellites send us
然而在太空中 卫星为我们传送
up to the minute pictures of the Sun.
最细微的太阳活动图片
Spectacular space probes show the solar corona in all its glory,
壮观的太空探测器给我们展示了光芒四射的日冕
and never ever have to wait for an eclipse.
再也不用去等待日食
Their secret is a piece of technology
秘密就在于
that creates a manmade eclipse.
人造日食的科技
Let's say I wanna look at the Sun,
比如说我们想看看太阳
which is right next to me here.
它就在我旁边这里
The Sun is really bright and it scatters lots of light in the sky,
太阳真的很明亮 它在空中放射无数的光芒
so much so that I can't see what's around it.
如此多以至于我无法看清它的轮廓
But if I use a device like an occluder that an optician might use,
但如果我用一个仪器 例如眼镜店用的遮光器
I can use it to block the Sunlight,
我能用它来遮挡阳光
kill the glare and see what's around the Sun.
消除炫目的光从而观察太阳周围是什么
I can do the same thing with stars.
此方法也可以用于观察恒星
And a device like that that we can put together is called a coronagraph.
这种仪器我们统称为日冕仪
We use it for studying the Sun's corona,
用于研究太阳的日冕
and we use it for studying the environments of stars.
以及恒星的环境
Coronagraphs, invented in 1939,
发明于1939年的日冕仪
were first applied to telescopes on Earth.
起初用于地球上的望远镜上
They worked best at the highest altitudes
它们在海拔最高处时效果最好
where scattering of sunlight by the atmosphere is minimized.
那里大气对阳光的削弱作用最小
But coronagraphs do their heaviest lifting in space.
但日冕仪在太空中发挥的作用最大
Two of the major missions carrying coronagraphs are
配备日冕仪的航♥天♥器主要是
the SOHO and STEREO spacecraft.
太阳风层探测器和日地关系天文台