VOA标准英语2010年-Total Solar Eclipse Over Southern Hemi

An annular¹ solar eclipse is seen formed over the sky of Burma's ancient historic city of Bagan, 15 Jan 2010

Holly² Gilbert, an astrophysicist at NASA, explains the science behind the spectacle of the sun's disappearance³.

"So during a total solar eclipse, the Moon comes between the Sun and the Earth, and it casts a shadow on the Earth.  And for those people that happen to be in that small area where the shadow is, they're going to experience what we call a total solar eclipse," Gilbert says.  "The moon just happens to be at the exact perfect distance away from the Earth that it completely blocks out just the disc of the sun."

Fred Espenak, who earned the nickname "Mr. Eclipse" at NASA, says the central eclipse path begins Sunday in the South Pacific, about 700 kilometers southeast of Tonga, at 18:15 Universal Time, or UTC.  He says the path ends in southern Argentina at 20:52 UTC.

"The path of the Moon's shadow starts about a thousand miles [1,600 kilometers] north of New Zealand and sweeps across the Pacific Ocean and it ends at sunset in Tierra del Fuego in Chile and Argentina," Espenak explains.

Skywatchers - take note.  Experts say that even when 99 percent of the sun's surface is obscured, the remaining crescent is still intense enough to cause a retinal burn.  But, they say, it is safe to look up at thetotal eclipse of the sun with the naked eye.

Where to watch

NASA astrophysicist Mitzi Adams says some of the prime places to view this eclipse are already on many travelers' wish lists, including her own.

"Do you like the South Pacific?" she asked with a laugh.  "Probably the best thing to do would be to take a cruise in the South Pacific.  Totality can be seen from Easter Island, from the Cook Islands.  If you like the southern tip of South America, Patagonia.  I've really always wanted to go to Patagonia.  That's a great place to observe the eclipse."

And, indeed, there will be people traveling to witness this celestial⁴ spectacle.  Various tour organizers have offered now sold-out Solar Eclipse travel packages that include trips to and around the South Pacific.

Astrophysicist Fred Espenak can understand the allure⁵ of experiencing it on Easter Island, where the total eclipse will last about five minutes.

"One of the most unique things about this particular eclipse is that it crosses a very interesting archaeological site, Easter Island," he says.  "And, on Easter Island, there are these great statues that were erected⁶ 1,000, 1,500 years ago - a lot of mystery about these statues.  But in any case this is the first total eclipse that's hit the island in about 1,400 years."

Legends

In Argentina, in ancient times, people explained the solar eclipse by saying a jaguar⁷ ate the sun.

Mitzi Adams, an astrophysicist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, says that is just one of many myths linked to celestial happenings, as people came up with legends to explain what was unknown and frightening.

"There are quite a few linked to solar and lunar eclipses," says Adams.  "I think probably, in my experience with myths and legends, [there are more stories about] the solar eclipses because they occur during the day [and] are much more dramatic because you are going from daylight to darkness."

Ancient myths explained that daylight-to-darkness phenomenon with multiple variations on a similar theme.  In India, Indonesia and China, the sun-eating beast was a dragon.  Siberians heard tales of sun-swallowing vampires⁸.  In Vietnam, the sun was devoured⁹ by a giant frog.

 

1 annular   

adj.环状的

参考例句：

• It was reported that there would be an annular eclipse tomorrow.据报道说，明天有日环食。
• The annular markings on a tree indicate its age.树的环形纹理显示其年龄。

2 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

3 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

4 celestial   

adj.天体的；天上的

参考例句：

• The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。
• Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。

5 allure   

n.诱惑力，魅力；vt.诱惑，引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• The window displays allure customers to buy goods.橱窗陈列品吸引顾客购买货物。
• The book has a certain allure for which it is hard to find a reason.这本书有一种难以解释的魅力。

6 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

7 jaguar   

n.美洲虎

参考例句：

• He was green with envy when he saw my new Jaguar car.看见我那辆美洲虎牌新车，他非常妒忌。
• Should you meet a jaguar in the jungle,just turn slowly,walk away.But slowly,never look back.你在丛林中若碰上美洲虎，就慢慢转身走开，可一定要慢，切莫回头看。

8 vampires   

n.吸血鬼( vampire的名词复数 )；吸血蝠；高利贷者；（舞台上的）活板门

参考例句：

• The most effective weapon against the vampires is avampire itself. 对付吸血鬼最有效的武器就是吸血鬼自己。 来自电影对白
• If vampires existed, don`t you think we would`ve found them by now? 如果真有吸血鬼，那我们怎么还没有找到他们呢？ 来自电影对白

9 devoured   

吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• She devoured everything she could lay her hands on: books, magazines and newspapers. 无论是书、杂志，还是报纸，只要能弄得到，她都看得津津有味。
• The lions devoured a zebra in a short time. 狮子一会儿就吃掉了一匹斑马。