一起來看英仙座流星雨

最新 08-17

Every summer, the Perseid meteor shower brings a cascade of shooting stars to the night sky.

每年夏天，英仙座流星雨都會給夜空帶來一連串的流星。

And this year, it has done us all the favor of arriving right after a new moon — allowing the meteors to show off without lunar competition.

而今年，它剛好在新月後出現給我們所有人帶來了福利——這樣就可以不受月光干擾欣賞流星雨啦。

The meteor shower will peak late Sunday night and early Monday morning, but you can also catch a good number of meteors in the middle of the night on Saturday.

這場流星雨在周末晚間和周一凌晨到達高潮，不過在周六夜晚你也可以看到為數不少的流星。

So if you happen to be out late this Saturday, take a moment to look up.

所以假如你這周六剛好晚睡的話，不放靜下來看一看夜空。

Darker locations are better — away from city lights if possible — but otherwise, any location will do.

觀察地點越暗越好—如果可能的話請遠離城市的霓虹—不過其實，基本上哪裡都可以。

You can look anywhere in the sky; there"s no need to focus on a particular location.

你可以看夜空中任何地方都可以；並不局限於某一塊區域。

Let your eyes adjust, and wait.

調整好視線，然後等待。

You can also watch the Perseids online, but barring bad weather, we hesitate to recommend that route.

你也可以在網上觀看英仙座流星雨，但除非天氣不好，我們不會推薦這條路。

C"mon.

來吧！

Life is short.

人生苦短。

Grab a picnic blanket.

拿上野餐毯子。

The Perseid shower is famous for bright, fast meteors that leave a long wake behind them, NASA says.

英仙座流星雨以明亮、快速的流星雨而聞名，流行會有長長的拖尾，美國航空航天局稱。

You can spot 50 to 100 of them each hour.

每小時里你可以看到50到100個流星。

"Perseids are also known for their fireballs," NASA writes.

「英仙座也以火球而聞名，」美國航空航天局寫道。

"Fireballs are larger explosions of light and color that can persist longer than an average meteor streak.

「火球是指比普通流星持續時間更長的光和色彩的大爆炸。

This is due to the fact that fireballs originate from larger particles of cometary material. Fireballs are also brighter."

這是因為火球源自於更大型的彗星材料。火球也會更耀眼。」

If you pay attention to the trajectories of the shooting stars in the sky, they look like they"re all coming from a point right by the constellation Perseus, NASA says — hence the name Perseids.

假如你注意到流星在天空中的軌跡線的話，彷彿它們全都來自於英仙座的同一個點，NASA說道——因此得名英仙座。

"However, the constellation for which a meteor shower is named only serves to aid viewers in determining which shower they are viewing on a given night," NASA notes.

「不過，一個流星雨的命名僅僅是為了幫助觀測者們判斷他們在某個指定夜晚所看的是哪一個流星雨而已，」NASA提醒道。

"The constellation is not the source of the meteors."

「這個星座並不是這些流行真正的來源。」

Instead, the meteors are remnants of the trail left by the less romantically named comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.

其實，這些流星雨是來自彗星殘骸，而彗星的名字則不怎麼浪漫叫做109P/Swift-Tuttle.

As Earth passes through that streak of space debris, the bits of rubble turn into flaming streaks across our sky.

隨著地球通過這片太空碎片時，其碎石就變成了燃燒的條紋橫跨我們的天空。