史上最长的日食：英语精读讲义

This is Concorde flying over Africa on a flight like no other. 講解

这是协和式客机飞越非洲的画面，一场无与伦比的飞行。

The sun,

太阳，

which was directly above Concorde,

当时正处于协和式客机的正上方，

just went completely dark

突然间完全变黑了，

in what was to become the most unique solar eclipse ever witnessed. 語法

这成为了有史以来被目击的最独特的日食。

Total solar eclipses are rare

日全食非常罕见，

and typically only last for a few minutes.

而且通常只持续几分钟。

But in 1973,

但在1973年，

scientists were able to cheat

科学家们却能够“作弊”，

and experience 74 minutes in the moon's shadow

在月球的阴影中体验了74分钟，

by flying in the only vehicle capable of chasing an eclipse.

这得益于他们乘坐了唯一一架能够追赶日食的交通工具。

This was an incredible mission that required pinpoint accuracy and timing

这是一项不可思议的任务，需要极高精度的定位和时机把握，

to intercept the moon's shadow

才能拦截住月球的影子，

as it traveled at over 2,000 km per hour

因为当时它正以每小时超过2000公里的速度

across the Earth's surface.

在地球表面移动。

We modeled the entire thing

我们对整个过程进行了建模，

to show you what this incredible mission looked like

向您展示这个不可思议的任务是什么样的，

and how a small team of scientists managed to pull it off. 短語動詞

以及一小队科学家是如何成功完成它的。

In 1972,

1972年，

French astrophysicist Pierre Lena began preparing for the upcoming eclipse.

法国天体物理学家皮埃尔·莱纳开始为即将到来的日食做准备。

This was to be one of the longest in history

这将是历史上持续时间最长的日食之一，

with a duration of over 7 minutes.

持续时间超过7分钟。

An eclipse this long wouldn't happen for another 200 years,

如此长时间的日食在未来200年内都不会再发生，

so he was eager to make the most of it. 習語

所以他非常渴望能充分利用这次机会。

He was particularly interested in observing the sun's corona, 用詞

他特别希望能观察到太阳的日冕，

the area of hot gas

那是一片炽热的气体区域，

where the temperatures shoot from 5,000 degrees 用詞

那里的温度会从5000度

to over 1 million degrees.

飙升到100万度以上。

The corona is usually invisible from Earth,

日冕通常在地球上是看不见的，

but during an eclipse,

但在日食期间，

the sun disappears

太阳会被遮挡，

and the corona lights up.

而日冕就会显现出来。

But even during an eclipse,

但即使在日食期间，

studying the corona is difficult

研究日冕也很困难，

since clouds and the Earth's atmosphere get in the way. 習語

因为云层和地球大气层会造成阻碍。

And so for the 1973 eclipse,

因此，为了1973年的那次日食，

Pierre wanted to step things up a notch. 習語

皮埃尔希望能更进一步。

And so,

于是，

Pierre asked legendary Concorde test pilot Andre Turcat

皮埃尔询问了传奇的协和式客机试飞员安德烈·图尔卡特，

if he could use Concorde to chase down the eclipse

看他是否能驾驶协和式客机来追赶日食，

and fill the plane with science equipment.

并把飞机装满科学设备。

Aérospatiale, the French side of Concorde,

协和计划的法方公司——宇航公司（Aérospatiale），

were excited about the idea

对这个想法感到非常兴奋，

and let him use prototype 001

并让他使用001号原型机

for the flight with Turcat piloting the aircraft.

进行这次由图尔卡特驾驶的飞行。

Although there were faster planes around,

虽然当时也有更快的飞机，

none of them could match the endurance

但没有一架能比得上协和式客机的续航能力

or cabin space of Concorde.

或它的机舱空间。

Pierre and Turcat got to work coming up with a flight plan 講解

皮埃尔和图尔卡特开始着手制定一项飞行计划，

that would maximize their time in the moon's shadow.

以求在月球阴影中停留的时间最大化。

Before we look at how the flight worked, 表達脈絡

在了解这次飞行是如何运作的之前，

we need to understand the basic principles of solar eclipses.

我们需要了解一下日食的基本原理。

An eclipse happens when the moon passes in front of our view of the sun,

当月球从我们观测太阳的视线前方经过时，就会发生日食，

blocking out its light and casting a large shadow over Earth. 短語動詞

它挡住了太阳的光线，并在地球上投下巨大的阴影。

Most parts of the shadow will only experience a partial eclipse,

阴影的大部分区域只会经历日偏食，

but at the very center of the shadow is a much smaller area

但在阴影的最中心地带，有一个小得多的区域，

where the sun is fully blocked.

那里的太阳会被完全遮挡。

This is where the total eclipse happens.

这就是发生日全食的地方。

As the moon moves,

随着月球的移动，

the shadow also moves across the Earth's surface,

阴影也在地球表面移动，

meaning that any point along the path will only experience a few minutes of complete darkness. 語法

这意味着沿途的任何一点都只会经历几分钟的完全黑暗。

For the 1973 eclipse,

对于1973年的日食，

the shadow was set to begin at the edge of South America 語法

阴影预计从南美洲的边缘开始，

and work its way over to Africa, 習語

一路移动到非洲，

where the totality would be at its fullest. 用詞

在那里全食的效果将达到最顶峰。

It would be moving over the ground at around 2,200 km per hour,

它将在地面上以大约每小时2200公里的速度移动，

slightly faster than Concorde's top speed.

这略快于协和式客机的最高速度。

Pierre and his team had to figure out how to stay in the moon's shadow 短語動詞

皮埃尔和他的团队必须弄清楚如何在阴影最终超过他们之前

for as long as possible before it eventually overtook them. 語法

尽可能长时间地留在月球的阴影中。

But during the planning stages,

但在规划阶段，

word got out about the mission thanks to a data breach, 習語

由于一次数据泄露，任务的消息走漏了风声，

something that wouldn't have happened if they'd used Incogni.

如果他们使用了Incogni，这事绝不会发生。

Just kidding,

开个玩笑，

that didn't happen.

这事并没有发生。

But did you know that data brokers buy and sell our own personal data

但你是否知道，数据中间商会买卖我们的个人数据，

to marketing agencies who add you to a list,

卖给把你加入名单的营销机构，

usually so they can send you pointless emails?

通常是为了给你发送毫无意义的电子邮件？

The problem is that the information on their databases can quite easily be leaked or stolen by criminals.

问题在于，他们数据库里的信息很容易被犯罪分子泄露或窃取。

Incogni reaches out to these marketing agencies on your behalf 短語搭配

Incogni 会代表你主动联系这些营销机构，

and gets them to delete any data they have about you. 語法

让他们删除所拥有的关于你的任何数据。

They contact each company individually,

他们会单独联系每家公司，

so you don't have to. 語法

所以你不需要自己动手。

After a few months of Incogni,

使用 Incogni 几个月后，

my spam emails have almost completely dropped off.

我的垃圾邮件几乎完全消失了。

To protect your personal information and get rid of spam in your life, 短語動詞

为了保护你的个人信息并摆脱生活中的垃圾邮件，

visit incogni.com/primalspace and use the code PRIMALSPACE to get 60% off.

请访问 incogni.com/primalspace，并使用代码 PRIMALSPACE 立减60%。

In order to stay in the moon's shadow for as long as possible,

为了尽可能长时间地留在月球的阴影中，

Concorde had to follow a very precise flight plan.

协和式客机必须遵循非常精确的飞行计划。

The best chance for achieving this was over Africa,

实现这一目标的最佳机会是在非洲上空，

but this didn't give the team a whole lot of options for airports.

但这并没有给团队留下很多机场的选择。

Most of the runways in Africa were too short for Concorde,

非洲大多数的跑道对于协和式客机来说都太短了，

and the hot conditions meant that Concorde would have to carry less fuel during takeoff.

而且炎热的气候意味着协和式客机在起飞时必须携带较少的燃料。

They eventually settled on the island of Gran Canaria, 短語動詞

他们最终选择了大加那利岛，

which had a cooler climate and a great runway.

那里气候较凉爽，并且拥有一条绝佳的跑道。

The plan was to take off,

计划是起飞，

fly south,

向南飞行，

and intercept the moon's shadow at a specific point over Mauritania,

在毛里塔尼亚上空的特定点拦截月球的阴影，

where it would turn and follow the shadow across the Sahara Desert.

在那里飞机将转向并跟随着阴影穿过撒哈拉沙漠。

But the path of the shadow wasn't straight and instead followed a large curve.

但阴影的路径并不是笔直的，而是呈一个大弧线。

This would make science observations from inside Concorde very difficult

如果飞机必须不断转弯，

if it had to constantly make turns.

这将使在协和式客机内部进行科学观察变得极其困难。

And so Pierre and his team came up with a straight line path that would touch the northern edge of the shadow,

因此，皮埃尔和他的团队想出了一条直线路径，它将接触到阴影的北边缘，

cut across to its southern edge,

切穿到其南边缘，

and end at its northern edge.

然后在北边缘结束。

This would give them up to 80 minutes in the shadow

这将让他们在阴影中停留长达80分钟，

without having to make a single turn. 語法

而无需进行任何转弯。

Since the shadow would be traveling a little bit faster than Concorde,

因为阴影的移动速度会比协和式客机稍微快一点，

it would eventually outrun it.

它最终会跑在飞机前面。

And so the team had to meet the shadow at a precise point on the shadow's leading edge.

因此，团队必须在阴影的前沿上的精确一点与它汇合。

If they were to arrive more than 15 seconds late or a kilometer off, 語法

如果他们晚到超过15秒或偏离了一公里，

they would fall out of the shadow much sooner

他们就会更早地掉出阴影外，

and their time in totality would be drastically reduced.

他们在全食中度过的时间将大幅减少。

But arriving at the intercept point so precisely

但是在充满各种天气变数的情况下，

with all the variables of weather would be a huge challenge.

如此精准地到达拦截点将是一个巨大的挑战。

Luckily,

幸运的是，

Andre Turcat was one of the best pilots around and he knew Concorde better than anyone.

安德烈·图尔卡特是当时最顶尖的飞行员之一，并且他比任何人都更了解协和式客机。

With a solid flight plan,

有了可靠的飞行计划后，

Pierre recruited four other teams of scientists

皮埃尔招募了另外四个科学家团队，

that would each carry out experiments on board Concorde. 短語動詞

他们将分别在协和式客机上进行实验。

Since Concorde was going to fly over the equator,

因为协和式客机将飞越赤道，

the eclipse would be directly above the aircraft,

日食会直接出现在飞机正上方，

and so holes were cut into the roof of Concorde and special windows were installed to give the scientists a clear view of the eclipse.

因此协和式客机的机顶被挖出孔洞并安装了特殊的窗户，以便科学家们能清晰地观察日食。

All of the seats were removed from the cabin

客舱内的所有座椅都被拆除，

and the electrical supply was modified to provide power to the science instruments.

并对电力供应进行了改装，以向科学仪器供电。

After weeks of modifications,

经过数周的改装，

the fastest science observatory in the world was ready to make history. 短語搭配

世界上速度最快的科学观测站已经准备好创造历史了。

On the 30th of June,

在6月30日，

at precisely 10:08 in the morning,

上午正好10点08分，

Concorde began rolling down runway 21.

协和式客机开始在21号跑道上滑行。

Turcat had decided to take off 20 seconds early,

图尔卡特决定提前20秒起飞，

giving him time to correct for any headwinds that might slow Concorde down. 講解

这给了他时间来纠正可能使协和式客机减速的任何逆风情况。

This turned out to be a wise choice, 短語動詞

事实证明这是一个明智的选择，

since the weather that morning was more turbulent and they ended up losing 8 seconds during the climb up to altitude. 短語動詞

因为那天早上的天气更加颠簸，结果他们在爬升至预定高度时损失了8秒。

With 12 seconds of time still to lose before reaching the intercept point,

在到达拦截点之前还有12秒的时间需要耗掉，

Turcat started deploying small air brakes to carefully bleed off some speed. 短語動詞

图尔卡特开始展开小型减速板，小心翼翼地降低一些速度。

This quickly brought them closer to the correct arrival time,

这使他们迅速接近了正确的到达时间，

but the winds continued to be unpredictable

但风况继续变化莫测，

and Concorde slowed down too much,

且协和式客机减速过多，

falling 4 seconds behind the scheduled arrival time

落后了预定到达时间4秒，

with just a few minutes to go. 短語搭配

此时距离拦截点只剩几分钟。

In order to make up for this, 短語動詞

为了弥补这一点，

Turcat briefly pushed the engines past their maximum operating speed of Mach 2.2

图尔卡特短暂地将引擎推过了2.2马赫的最大运行速度，

and Concorde arrived at the intercept point just 1 second late

最终，协和式客机仅晚了1秒到达拦截点，

and only a kilometer off course.

并且只偏离航线一公里。

At the exact same time,

就在同一时间，

the sun fully disappeared behind the moon and Concorde was now in complete darkness.

太阳完全消失在月球后面，协和式客机现在陷入了完全的黑暗之中。

Despite it being midday, 語法

尽管正值正午，

the stars became visible

星星却变得清晰可见，

and the scientists could see the sun's corona through their windows.

科学家们也能透过窗户看到太阳的日冕。

Concorde was now racing against time and the moon itself, 習語

协和式客机此刻正在与时间、与月球本身赛跑，

and so the scientists got to work.

科学家们也随之投入到工作中。

Pierre and his team had developed a telescope that could measure the infrared light coming from the sun's corona.

皮埃尔和他的团队研发了一台望远镜，可以测量来自太阳日冕的红外光。

During the 74 minutes in the moon's shadow,

在月球阴影中的这74分钟里，

they made measurements that furthered our understanding of the zodiacal light, 講解

他们进行的测量加深了我们对黄道光的理解，

the layer of dust in our solar system that gets lit up by the sun.

黄道光是我们太阳系中被太阳照亮的尘埃层。

The team from the US discovered that the sun's corona has acoustic waves,

来自美国的团队发现了太阳的日冕具有声波，

which cause it to pulse every 5 minutes. 語法

这会导致它每5分钟脉动一次。

Concorde flew perfectly for 74 minutes

协和式客机完美飞行了74分钟，

before it left the moon's shadow and landed in Chad.

然后飞出了月球的阴影并在乍得降落。

For the scientists and pilots on board,

对于机上的科学家和飞行员来说，

they got to witness one of the most beautiful spectacles from the most unique vantage point. 語法

他们有幸从最独特的视角见证了最美丽的奇观之一。

This remains the longest eclipse experienced by humans,

这仍然是人类经历过的最长的日食，

a record that will most likely remain for centuries. 語法

这项记录很可能会保持几个世纪。

And now for the Primal Space giveaway.

现在是 Primal Space 的福利时间。

The winner of the previous giveaway is Bruno.

上一次抽奖的获胜者是 Bruno。

Congrats.

恭喜。

In the next video,

在下一期视频中，

we'll be giving away this Primal Space designed Concorde poster

我们将送出这张由 Primal Space 设计的协和式客机海报，

available in our store.

也可在我们的商店中购买。

All you need to do is sign up at the link below, 語法

您所需要做的就是在下面的链接中注册，

like the video,

为视频点赞，

and leave a comment saying what you think about Concorde and this eclipse flight.

并留下一条评论，说说您对协和式客机和这次日食飞行的看法。

Thank you very much for watching and I'll see you in the next video.

非常感谢您的收看，我们下期视频见。