Wonders of the Night Sky

Aurora borealis

北極光

For thousands of years， people have loved looking at the night sky. For almost as long， scientists have been trying to explain what we see.

幾千年來，人們都喜歡仰望夜空。幾乎同樣長的時間里，科學家們一直在試圖解釋我們所看到的一切。

Every few years， there is an amazing light show near the North Pole. This is the aurora borealis， or “the northern lights”. Bright green， yellow， red， and blue lights appear in the sky.

People used to believe that sunlight caused these lights. In fact， these lights appear because of magnetic attraction.

The sun gives off particles of electrical energy. They join other particles from the sun and become a solar wind. Solar winds reach the most magnetic part of the earth. They then mix together and glow brightly enough to be seen.

夜空奇觀

每隔幾年，北極附近就會出現一場令人驚嘆的“燈光秀”，而那就是北極光。屆時，天空中明亮的綠色、黃色、紅色和藍色等光線交相輝映，照亮整個夜空。

人們過去認為北極光是由陽光形成的。事實上，是磁吸力造就了北極光。

太陽釋放出電能粒子，它們與太陽釋放的其他粒子結合，形成太陽風。太陽風沖向地球磁場最強的地方，與地磁場產生交互作用，發出足以讓人看見的亮光。

Comets彗星

A comet is another kind of light you might see. The word “comet” comes from a Greek word meaning “wearing long hair”. People used to think that comets looked like stars with hair. They feared them and thought they might bring war or sickness. Today， we know that they are a mixture of rock， dust， ice， and frozen gases.

彗星是你可能看到的另一種光。“彗星”一詞源于希臘語，意思是“披著長發”。古人認為彗星就像長了頭發的星星，他們害怕彗星，認為彗星會帶來戰爭或疾病。如今，我們知道彗星是由巖石、塵埃、冰和冷凍氣體構成的混合物。

Meteors流星

Meteors are not stars. They are pieces of rock that get into the earth’s atmosphere. Sometimes in space， the earth passes through an area with lots of pieces of rock. When this happens， you may see hundreds of “shooting stars” in the sky. This is called a meteor shower. The lights look as though they are moving very fast through the sky.

流星不是星星。它們是進入地球大氣層的巖石碎片。地球在太空中運行時，有時會經過有大量巖石碎片的區域。當這種情況發生時，天空中會出現數以百計的“流星”。這就是所謂的流星雨。這些光看起來就好像在天空中快速地移動。

What do you see when you look up into the night sky? Whether you see the moon， a star， or a beautiful light show， it is sure to be fantastic.

當你仰望夜空時，你會看到什么？無論你看到的是月亮、星星，還是美麗的“燈光秀”，都一定是夢幻般的。

Word Bank

particle n. 微粒；粒子

energy n. 能源；能量

gas n. 氣體

atmosphere n. （圍繞地球的）大氣，大氣層