夜空 Night skies

Hello, I’m Neil.
大家好，我是尼尔。
And I’m Callum.
我是卡勒姆。
And this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. Today we’re talking about night skies. Now Callum what kind of a view of the stars do you get from your house?
这里是6分钟英语BBC英语学习栏目。今天我们谈谈夜空。卡勒姆，在你房间里观看星星怎么样？
Well, it’s actually not too bad on a clear night. How about you?
嗯，在一个晴朗的夜晚这并不糟糕。你呢？
Well, I don’t often see the stars where I live, but perhaps this is because I live closer to the centre of London than you. So there’s probably less light pollution where you live.
我不经常在我住的地方看星星，这也许是因为我比你住的离伦敦市中心更近一些。所以可能你居住的地方光污染更轻微一些。
Well it is true that the best places to see stars are the darkest places on the planet, like deserts and mountain tops and that’s where you see those pictures of powerful telescopes.
事实是观看星星最好的地方是地球上最黑暗的地方，比如沙漠、山顶，这也正是你看到照片上高倍望远镜所在的地方。
Yes, in certain locations around the world you can get a really clear view of thousands of twinkling stars, some planets and sometimes the odd satellite moving across the sky.
在世界上某些地方，你可以清楚的看到成千上万颗闪烁的星星，还有些行星，有时还能看到零星的卫星划过天空。
Twinkling describes light which flashes off and on very quickly, just as stars do.And you may be familiar with the very famous song, ’Twinkle twinkle little star’.
twinkling（闪烁）用以形容光断断续续闪烁的非常频繁，正如星星一样。有首著名歌曲你可能很熟悉，《一闪一闪亮晶晶》。
Yes and a satellite is an object which moves around a larger object in space.Usually when we talk about satellites, we mean man-made objects, such as communication satellites, although it also means natural objects like moons.Well, before we continue our discussion about night skies I have a quiz for you, Callum. I want to know how many moons the biggest planet in the solar system, Jupiter, has. Is it:a) 1b) 12c) 64
卫星是一个绕着更大的物体在空间旋转的物体。通常当我们所谈论的satellite（卫星）指的是人造卫星，例如通信卫星，尽管它也代表着像月亮这样的自然物体。好，在我们继续讨论之前，我有个关于夜空的小问题要考你，卡勒姆。我想知道太阳系最大的行星木星有多少颗卫星。是：a）1b）12c）64
I have absolutely no idea, so this is just a guess. I’m going to go for b) 12.
我完全不知道，我猜一下吧。我选择b)12。
Well, we’ll check on that at the end of the programme. We’ve been talking about night skies and good places to see the stars. Callum, would it surprise you to hear that the night sky above a part of the UK has been awarded special protection status?
我们将在节目的最后查看是否正确。我们一直在谈论夜空和观看星星的好地方。卡莱姆，听到部分英国上空被授予特殊保护地位这一说法令你吃惊吗？
That does surprise me because there aren’t that many remote parts of the UK compared to other countries.
这确实令我吃惊，因为比起其它国家，英国没有那么多的偏远地区。
Well, it’s in Exmoor National Park, which is in the south-west of England. Let’s hear what’s been happening from the BBC’s reporter, Andrew Plant.
这是位于英格兰西南部的埃克斯穆尔国家公园。让我们听听来自BBC记者安德鲁的报道。
Now, those staff at Exmoor National Park are aiming to put the darkness back into night-time.Using these light monitors they proved that Exmoor was officially one of the UK’s darkest spots, and now its first Dark Sky Reserve, somewhere the stars really do come out at night.
现在，埃克斯穆尔国家公园的员工正致力于让黑暗回到夜间。他们使用这些光显示器证明了埃克斯穆尔正式成为英国最黑的地方之一以及第一黑暗天空保护区，夜晚确实会有明星出现。
They used light monitors to prove that a National Park in England is one of the darkest places in the UK.
他们使用光显示器证明英国的一个国家公园是英国最黑暗的地方。
So what does this mean?
那么这意味着什么？
It means that it’s now Europe’s first Dark Sky Reserve. A reserve is an area – usually of land – kept in its natural state.
这意味着现在它是欧洲第一黑暗天空保护区。reserve（自然保护区）是指一个保持在其自然状态的区域，通常指土地。
So does this mean it’ll be illegal to turn lights on?
那么开灯是否是非法的呢？
I think it does, yes! There will be strict controls on things like street lights to reduce light pollution and keep the night truly dark. Have a guess at how many more stars you can see in a Dark Sky Reserve than in a city.
我想是的！在路灯这些方面将会有严格的管制以减少光污染并保持夜晚真正黑暗。猜一下你在黑暗天空保护区可以比在城市里多看到多少星星。
That’s not fair, is this another quiz?! I’ve already been tested once!
这不公平，这是另一个测试吗？我已经做过一个测试了！
Oh come on.
嗨，说吧。
Oh, well, I think it’s probably in order of several thousand. So maybe when the street lights are on you can see 50-100; but when there are no street lights, 4-5-7- 10,000?
哦，好吧，我想大概有几千颗。所以也许路灯亮的时候你可以看到50到100颗，如果路灯不量大概有10000颗？
Well let’s find out. Listen to this clip, again from the BBC’s Andrew Plant. He’s speaking to someone who’s excited by the park’s new status.
让我们看看答案。再听一段BBC的安德鲁带来的视频。他正与一位因公园的现状而兴奋的人交谈。
Exmoor is already attracting seasoned star gazers and telescope tourists alike.
埃克斯穆尔吸引了众多经验丰富的观星者和望远镜旅游者。
When it’s dark you can see as many as 2,500 stars whereas in a city you might be lucky to see 200.
黑暗的时候你可以看到多达2500颗星星，而在一个城市时幸运的话你可能会看到200颗星星。
Did you catch what he said there?
你听懂他说的了吗？
Yes, apparently when it’s dark you can see almost 2,500 stars compared to just 200 in a city. That’s quite a big difference.
很显然，在黑暗的时候你几乎可以看到2500颗星星，而在一个城市你只能看到200颗。这大有不同。
The reporter used the expression ’star gazer’ to describe someone who likes looking at stars. To gaze is to look at something for a long time, especially something you like. Are you a star gazer?
记者使用短语star gazer来描述喜欢看星星的人们。gaze（凝视）是指长时间的注视某个东西，特别是你喜欢的东西。你是一位观星者吗？
Not so much, although my son is fascinated by the moon when it’s not hiding behind the clouds.
并不确切是，尽管我儿子在月亮不躲在云层后面的时候着迷于它。
Do you think you’d be tempted to go and visit a Dark Sky Reserve?
你认为你会想去参观一下黑暗天空保护区吗？
I did visit an observatory when I was on holiday in Hawaii once, and that was fascinating, but I’m not a telescope tourist, no.
有一次我在夏威夷度假的时候我确实去过一个观测站，那十分迷人，但我不是一个望远镜旅游者。
Right, OK. Well, here’s Allan Trow from an organisation called Dark Sky Wales.He wants the same status to be given to an area of Wales in the UK. He thinks it will attract people to the region.
好吧。阿兰?特罗来自于一个称为“威尔士黑暗天空”的组织。他希望英国威尔地区能获得同样的地位。他认为这会吸引人们去那里。
It opens up a whole realm of opportunities for amateur astronomers, because they will travel anywhere in the UK and abroad, a lot of them, to find dark skies. And if something is literally on their doorstep, then they’ll take advantage of it.
它开启了整个业余天文学家机会的领域，因为他们会在英国外国到处旅行去寻找黑暗天空。如果有些正在他们家门口，他们就会利用起来。
He says it opens up a whole realm of opportunities for amateur astronomers.What does he mean by that?
他说这为业余天文学家开启了整个机会领域。这意味着什么呢？
A realm is an area of interest; so there will be lots of chances for amateur astronomers – people whose hobby it is to study the stars.
realm（领域）是指一片有权益的地区，所以兴趣是研究星星的业余天文学家在此拥有大量机遇。
Well Callum, I think it’s time to go back to the question I asked you at the start of the programme. I wanted to know how many moons the biggest planet in the solar system, Jupiter, has. Is it:a) 1b) 12c) 64
卡勒姆，我想是时候回到节目开始我提问你的问题了。我想知道太阳系最大的行星木星有多少颗卫星。是：a)1b）12c）64
I said b) 12.
我选择了b)12。
And you were wrong, I’m afraid. It’s 64 which is incredible – it came as a complete surprise to me! Yes, 64, amazing! Thank you for listening and goodbye!
恐怕你是错误的。难以置信，答案是64，它让我也大吃一惊！是的，64，太不可思议了！感谢大家的收听，再见！
Bye!
再见！