宇宙（2007）

They photograph the corona out to great distances
它们拍摄延伸到很远处的日冕活动
and pick up other phenomena
并且能拍下一些现象
that, without these artificial eclipses, would be totally unseen.
如果没有人造日食就不可能发觉这些现象
Movies of the Sun obtained by satellites
卫星获得的太阳影像
are really fascinating to watch
真的很吸引人
because you can see all sorts of changes
因为你能看到日冕结构中的
in the structure of the corona,
各种变化
and prominences and flares and things like that.
日珥和耀斑等等
And you can also see what's called sun-grazing comets...
你还能看到被称作掠过太阳的彗星
Comets that come in and nearly hit the Sun, but go whizzing past.
彗星飞过来差点撞到太阳 然而呼啸而过
They're too close to the Sun
它们太靠近太阳
to be visible during the nighttime or the daytime,
所以在黑夜或者白天都无法看到
but with the Sun's disc blocked out,
但在遮住太阳后
you can actually see them.
你就能看到它们了
In 1971, a NASA satellite, equipped with a coronagraph,
1971年 美国宇航局的一颗装备了日冕仪的卫星
snapped these shots of something completely unknown.
拍下了这些完全未知的图像
The grainy pictures revealed an explosion in the corona
这些粒状的图像揭示了闻所未闻的
no one had ever seen before.
日冕中的一次爆♥炸♥
In 1971, it was discovered with a coronagraph on a satellite
1971年 一台在卫星上的日冕仪发现
that the Sun sometimes undergoes
太阳有时候会出现
what's called Coronal Mass Ejections,
一种叫做日冕物质抛射的现象
incredibly powerful explosions,
爆♥炸♥威力无比强大
like billions of nuclear bombs going off,
如同引爆了数十亿颗核弹
that eject high-speed charged particles from the Sun.
从太阳中喷发出高速的带电粒子
The solar particles speed toward the Earth,
太阳粒子以高速向地球飞来
where they cause the beautiful auroras,
形成了美丽的极光
usually seen near the poles.
它们通常出现在两极附近
But they can also seriously damage satellites,
但它们也能严重破坏卫星
communications and power grids.
通信系统以及电力系统
Coronal Mass Ejections or CMES happen in the corona,
日冕物质抛射也称CMES 发生在日冕层
and are often linked to solar flares,
经常和发生在太阳表面的
which happen on the Sun's surface.
太阳耀斑联♥系♥在一起
These are currently the most powerful explosions
这些是目前太阳系中已知的
known in the solar system,
最强大的爆♥炸♥
approaching the power of a billion hydrogen bombs.
接近十亿颗氢弹爆♥炸♥的威力
Coronal mass ejections involve so much mass
日冕物质抛射涉及如此多的物质
and magnetic energy moving away from the Sun.
从太阳发出如此强大的电磁能
They can be as wide as almost half of the Sun.
以至于它们的宽度几乎达到太阳的一半
And it's like a large bubble of material
它就像是个巨大的含有各种物质
and magnetic field moving away from the Sun
和电磁能的气泡 从太阳中发出
at over four million miles an hour.
时速达到四百万多英里
The amount of solar material ejected is huge.
太阳抛射出的物质量是巨大的
During a CME,
一次日冕物质抛射
mass equivalent to 200,000 world war II battleships
相当于20万艘二战时期战舰的物质
is thrown out into space...
被抛到太空中
220 billion pounds of matter.
即2200亿磅的物质
October 2003,
2003年10月
a powerful series of CMES erupts in the solar corona.
日冕层发生了一系列强大的日冕物质抛射
One of the most intense in recent memory.
它是近期最强烈的喷发之一
It generates auroras seen as far South as Florida.
产生的极光远至南部的佛罗里达
It causes at least one power blackout on Earth
引起了至少一次全球电力故障
and affects more than half of NASA's space missions.
并影响了美国宇航局超过一半的卫星
The Soho solar satellite is briefly disabled
太阳风层探测器暂时失灵
but records dramatic pictures of the event.
但生动地记录下了此次事件的画面
In the satellite images,
在卫星图像中
you can see the energetic particles hitting the detector,
你能看到高能粒子击中探测器
and it looks like there's a bunch of snow.
看起来像是一连串的雪花片
So we can actually see the particles impacting the satellite itself.
所以我们能看到粒子影响了卫星本身
But there may be more danger in these solar storms than we suspect.
但也许这些太阳风暴的危险超过我们的想象
We don't yet know how often the big ones happen.
我们不知道这些大抛射多久发生一次
But the latest research tells us the worst case scenario
但最近的研究告诉我们最糟糕的情形是
could smash the Earth with a solar wind,
一阵太阳风暴猛烈冲击地球
whose effects could kill millions.
能造成数百万人死亡
Across the depths of the cosmos,
在宇宙中
whenever moons or planets cross paths with stars,
每当卫星或行星运转经过恒星
the result is an often revealing
就会发生壮观的蚀现象
and sometimes awe-inspiring spectacle of an eclipse.
发人深省 有时甚至令人敬畏
Here on Earth, manmade artificial eclipses
在地球上 人造日食
have uncovered solar storms of incomparable violence.
已经发现了太阳风暴无与伦比的破坏力
It is critical that we watch for coronal mass ejections,
观测日冕物质抛射至关重要
massive solar outbursts discovered using coronagraphs
使用日冕仪遮住太阳表面
blocking out the disk of the Sun.
从而可以发现日冕物质抛射
The greatest danger comes
当太阳黑子周期达到高峰
when the solar sunspot cycle is at its maximum,
最大的危机来临了
roughly every 11 years.
大概每11年为一个周期
During the maximum of solar activities,
在太阳活动的高峰期间
there might be two or three coronal mass ejections per day,
也许每天都会有两三次大的日冕物质抛射
whereas during a minimum in the cycle,
然而在低潮期
there might be only one per week.
也许每周只有一次
Scientists are on the lookout for the next solar maximum,
科学家们在留心观察下一次太阳高峰
which some believe would come in 2012.
有些人认为那会是在2012年
that happens to be the year the Mayan calendar comes to an end,
正好是玛雅历结束的时候
which has given rise to widespread speculation
这件事引起了普遍的推测
about a global disaster in that year.
认为那年会有一场全球性的大灾难
In fact, it's now believed the coming solar maximum
实际上 现在认为即将到来的太阳高峰
will be the weakest since 1928
将是自1928年以来最弱的一次
and won't be reached until after 2012.
2012年后才会到来
Although precise dating is beyond the realm of today's science.
尽管现在的科学还无法精确预期
It is now predicted that the next solar maximum
现在预测下个太阳高峰
will peak in probably early 2014.
将大约会在2014年初达到顶峰
Some people predict it will happen before that.
一些人认为还要早些
But it's a sort of a moving target
但是它是一种不断变化的目标
because we don't fully understand the solar cycle itself.
因为我们并不完全理解太阳周期
Scientists have long suspected that a super CME,
科学家们很早就怀疑会有一次超级日冕物质抛射
when it does happen, could be disastrous.
当它发生的时候就会是一场大灾难
The last such event to target the Earth happened in 1859,
最近的一次朝向地球的大抛射是在1859年
disrupting telegraph service
令电报通讯中断
and creating auroras visible down to the equator.
形成的极光在赤道也能看见
An event like that today would mean
今天 这样的事件意味着
power outages on a scale we've never experienced.
我们从未经历过的大范围的供电中断
Much of the U.S. Power Grid could be down for three months
美国电力网的大部分将中断三个月
and perhaps much longer.
也许更久
If we lost electricity for three months or more,
如果我们断电三个月甚至更久
the effects, especially on a country like ours
其后果 尤其是对于我们这样的
that depends on electricity so much, would be devastating.
如此依赖电力的国家 将会是灭顶之灾
You can only imagine what it would be like.
你只能想象可能会是什么样
People would freak out, really.
人们会崩溃的 真的
I mean, we wouldn't have refrigeration.
我是说 我们将没有制冷
We wouldn't have lights.
没有照明
Without the artificial eclipses in our solar satellites,
如果没有太阳能卫星造成的人造日食
we would have no idea that such a threat even existed.
我们可能连有这样的危险存在都不知道
According to recent estimates,
根据最近的估计
full recovery could take 4 to 10 years.
完全恢复需要四到十年
Millions of people could die due to
数百万人将会死于
shortages of food, clean water and pharmaceuticals.
食物 净水和药物短缺
Projected damage may be as much as $1 to $2 trillion,
相关损失大概会达到1到2万亿美元
comparable to 20 Hurricane Katrinas.
相当于20场卡特里娜飓风
A super CME struck the Earth 150 years ago,
一次超级日冕物质抛射在150年前攻击地球
but scientists disagree on when the next one could come.
但是科学家们对下一次爆发的时间意见不一
The likelihood of that happening in our lifetime
在我们有生之年发生的可能性
is probably not that good, but we just don't know.
并不让人愉快 但是我们只是不知道
We don't have enough data.
我们没有足够的资料
The most powerful coronal mass ejections
威力最强大的日冕物质抛射
that could cause widespread damage over all of Earth
能造成全球范围的灾难
probably occur only about once every millennium or so.
也许大约一千年才发生一次
Nevertheless, having a huge calamity
然而 千年难遇的巨大灾难
every few thousand years is really a big deal.
真是个大事件
Our best protection may be in the artificial eclipses
我们最好的保护措施也许是人造日食
aboard spacecraft monitoring the Sun for CMES.
在宇宙飞船上监控日冕物质抛射
If improved warning systems are put into place,
如果改进后的警报系统投入使用