木星大红斑的威力：英语精读讲义

In 1989,

1989年，

12 years after leaving Earth,

在离开地球12年后，

Voyager 2 became the first spacecraft to fly past the mysterious planet of Neptune. 語法

旅行者2号成为了第一艘飞掠神秘行星海王星的航天器。

At this point, very little was known about the planet,

当时，人们对这颗行星知之甚少，

and scientists had only predicted its existence without actually observing it. 語法

科学家们只是预测了它的存在，并没有真正观测到过。

As it flew by, 短語動詞

在飞掠的过程中，

Voyager took the very first images of Neptune,

旅行者号拍摄了海王星的第一批照片，

showing a smooth blue ball with a giant dark spot right in the center.

画面显示这是一个光滑的蓝色球体，正中央有一个巨大的暗斑。

This dark spot turned out to be a gigantic storm. 短語動詞

这个暗斑原来是一场巨大的风暴。

Five years later,

五年后，

Neptune was observed again,

人们再次观测到了海王星，

this time by the Hubble Space Telescope.

这一次使用的是哈勃空间望远镜。

When scientists received the images,

当科学家们收到这些照片时，

they were stunned to see that the dark spot had completely disappeared. 短語搭配

他们震惊地发现那个暗斑已经完全消失了。

They assumed that Neptune's enormous storm must be similar to Jupiter's red spot, 語法

他们曾以为海王星上的巨大风暴肯定和木星的大红斑一样，

which has been around for at least 350 years. 語法

后者已经存在了至少350年。

In this video,

在本期视频中，

we're going to look at how these enormous storms form. 表達脈絡

我们将了解这些巨大的风暴是如何形成的。

We're also going to look at Jupiter's Great Red Spot

我们还会看看木星的大红斑，

and why it might disappear in our lifetime.

以及为什么它可能会在我们的有生之年消失。

The longest storm ever recorded on Earth was Hurricane John in 1994. 語法

地球上有记录以来持续时间最长的风暴是1994年的飓风“约翰”。

It lasted 31 days

它持续了31天，

and traveled over 13,000 km as it wandered across the Pacific Ocean.

在太平洋上空徘徊，移动了超过13000公里。

Although this is a monumental storm by Earth standards, 短語搭配

尽管按照地球的标准，这是一场史诗级的风暴，

it's nothing compared to the storms on Neptune and Jupiter, 習語

但与海王星和木星上的风暴相比简直微不足道，

which can last for months,

它们可以持续几个月、

years,

几年、

or even centuries.

甚至几个世纪。

On Earth,

在地球上，

the power of a hurricane comes from warm vapor evaporating from the sea.

飓风的动力来自于海面蒸发的温暖水汽。

This forms dense clouds,

这会形成浓密的云层，

which release heat into the air.

将热量释放到空气中。

In the right conditions,

在适当的条件下，

this creates an area of low pressure with warm air rising

就会形成一个低气压区，暖空气上升，

and cooler air being sucked in at the bottom.

冷空气被吸入底部。

Since the Earth spins at a higher velocity closer to the equator,

由于地球在赤道附近的自转速度更快，

winds traveling towards the area of low pressure begin to curve,

吹向低气压区的风开始弯曲，

which causes the hurricane to spin. 語法

导致了飓风的旋转。

A hurricane will usually start to dissipate once it reaches land,

飓风通常在登陆后就会开始消散，

where it no longer receives the warm vapor it needs to keep the cycle going. 短語搭配

因为它不再能获得维持循环所需的温暖水汽。

Unlike typical cyclones on Earth, 表達脈絡

与地球上典型的气旋不同，

the Great Red Spot on Jupiter is an anticyclone,

木星上的大红斑是一个反气旋，

which forms around an area of high pressure.

形成于一个高气压区周围。

The Red Spot is powered by two jet streams on either side,

大红斑的动力由其两侧的两股急流提供，

which give the storm a constant spin,

这两股急流使风暴保持持续旋转，

but stop it from moving across the planet. 語法

却也阻止了它在整个行星上移动。

While a storm on Earth is powered by heat from the Sun, 表達脈絡

地球上的风暴由太阳的热量驱动，

a storm on Jupiter is powered by heat from its metallic core,

而木星上的风暴则由其金属核心的热量驱动，

which could be as hot as 50,000 degrees. 語法

这里的温度可能高达5万度。

The combination of rising heat and fast-moving clouds

不断上升的热量和快速移动的云层结合在一起，

are what push the Great Red Spot around

推动着大红斑四处移动，

with speeds of up to 680 km per hour. 短語搭配

速度可达每小时680公里。

Since Jupiter is a gas giant,

因为木星是一颗气态巨行星，

it doesn't have the contrast of ocean and land to act as a barrier. 短語搭配

它没有海洋和陆地的对比来作为屏障。

The storms on Neptune form around a similar region of high pressure

海王星上的风暴形成于类似的、

deep in the atmosphere.

大气层深处的高压区域周围。

White clouds of methane are commonly seen in regions of high pressure

在暗斑形成之前，

just before a dark spot forms.

高压区域通常能看到白色的甲烷云。

Once a storm on Neptune has grown to its full size,

一旦海王星上的风暴发展到最大规模，

the winds at the edge of the storm can be traveling up to 2,100 km per hour,

边缘的风速最高可达每小时2100公里，

the fastest in our solar system.

这是太阳系中最快的速度。

Unlike Jupiter's Red Spot,

与木星大红斑不同的是，

the storms on Neptune get pushed around the planet, 語法

海王星上的风暴会被推着环绕整个行星，

where they get shredded by powerful crosswinds.

在那里它们会被强大的侧风撕裂。

Because of this,

正因为如此，

storms on Neptune typically last anywhere from a few months to a few years. 短語搭配

海王星上的风暴通常只会持续几个月到几年不等。

Since Jupiter is much easier to see from Earth,

由于从地球上更容易观测木星，

our observations of the Red Spot go way back to 1665, 短語動詞

我们对大红斑的观测可以追溯到1665年，

when astronomer Gian Domenico Cassini first discovered the giant storm.

当时天文学家乔瓦尼·多梅尼科·卡西尼首次发现了这个巨大的风暴。

Since then,

从那时起，

we have been able to observe the Red Spot 語法

我们就能够一直观测大红斑，

and watch it evolve over time. 語法

看着它随着时间推移不断演变。

However,

然而，

these observations have shown that the end may be near for this iconic storm. 習語

这些观测结果表明，这场标志性风暴可能即将走到尽头。

When it was observed in the 19th century,

当19世纪观测到大红斑时，

the Great Red Spot was 40,000 km long

它的长度为4万公里，

and 14,000 km tall.

高度为1.4万公里。

At that point,

在那个时候，

it could have swallowed two or three Earths whole. 語法

它足以一口吞下两三个地球。

But by the time Voyager 1 flew past in the late '70s, 語法

但当70年代末旅行者1号飞掠时，

it was almost half the size. 語法

它的尺寸几乎缩小了一半。

Recent observations by the Hubble telescope

哈勃望远镜最近的观测表明，

show that the storm is currently shrinking at about 1,000 km per year,

这场风暴目前正以每年约1000公里的速度缩小，

meaning it could completely disappear by the 2030s. 語法

这意味着它可能在21世纪30年代前完全消失。

As well as losing size, 語法

除了尺寸变小之外，

the main Red Spot seems to be breaking off into smaller streams 短語動詞

主红斑似乎正在分裂成更小的流体，

and darkening in color.

颜色也在变暗。

Scientists believe that since the storm is reaching higher into the atmosphere,

科学家认为，由于风暴正在延伸到大气层更高的位置，

the top of the Red Spot is exposed to more UV light, 短語搭配

大红斑的顶部暴露在更多的紫外线下，

which darkens the color of the chemicals.

这使得化学物质的颜色变深了。

But,

但是，

like predicting the weather here on Earth,

就像预测地球上的天气一样，

there is still so much that we don't know about these gigantic storms. 語法

对于这些巨大的风暴，我们还有太多未知之处。

When Neptune's dark spot was first discovered,

当海王星的暗斑刚被发现时，

scientists thought that it had been around for centuries,

科学家们还以为它已经存在了几个世纪，

just like Jupiter's storm.

就像木星的风暴一样。

The Great Red Spot is also far hotter than we initially imagined, 語法

大红斑也比我们最初想象的要热得多，

with parts of its upper atmosphere exceeding 1300 degrees. 語法

上层大气某些部分的温度超过了1300度。

Even with the increases in our observational technology, 表達脈絡

即使我们的观测技术不断进步，

there is still so much knowledge trapped inside the boundaries of these giant,

在这些巨大而神秘的行星深处，

mysterious planets waiting to be discovered. 語法

仍有无数的知识等待着我们去探索。

So,

所以，

although we might be losing one of the most iconic features of our solar system,

尽管我们可能会失去太阳系中最具标志性的特征之一，

the observations we make of it

但对它的观测

will give us a better understanding of how nature operates through our solar system. 短語搭配

将让我们更好地了解大自然是如何在整个太阳系中运作的。

Thank you very much for watching,

非常感谢您的观看，

and I'll see you in the next video.

我们下期视频再见。