木星大紅斑的威力：英語精讀講義

In 1989,

1989年，

12 years after leaving Earth,

在離開地球12年後，

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

航海家2號成為了第一艘飛掠神祕行星海王星的太空船。

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

當時，人們對這顆行星知之甚少，

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

科學家們只是預測了它的存在，並沒有真正觀測到過。

As it flew by, 片語動詞

在飛掠的過程中，

Voyager took the very first images of Neptune,

航海家號拍攝了海王星的第一批照片，

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

畫面顯示這是一個光滑的藍色球體，正中央有一個巨大的暗斑。

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

這個暗斑原來是一場巨大的風暴。

Five years later,

五年後，

Neptune was observed again,

人們再次觀測到了海王星，

this time by the Hubble Space Telescope.

這一次使用的是哈伯太空望遠鏡。

When scientists received the images,

當科學家們收到這些照片時，

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

他們震驚地發現那個暗斑已經完全消失了。

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

他們曾以為海王星上的巨大風暴肯定和木星的大紅斑一樣，

which has been around for at least 350 years. 文法

後者已經存在了至少350年。

In this video,

在這支影片中，

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

我們將了解這些巨大的風暴是如何形成的。

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

我們還會看看木星的大紅斑，

and why it might disappear in our lifetime.

以及為什麼它可能會在我們的有生之年消失。

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

地球上有記錄以來持續時間最長的風暴是1994年的颶風「約翰」。

It lasted 31 days

它持續了31天，

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

在太平洋上空徘徊，移動了超過13000公里。

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

儘管按照地球的標準，這是一場史詩級的風暴，

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

但與海王星和木星上的風暴相比簡直微不足道，

which can last for months,

把它們可以持續幾個月、

years,

幾年、

or even centuries.

甚至幾個世紀。

On Earth,

在地球上，

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

颶風的動力來自於海面蒸發的溫暖水氣。

This forms dense clouds,

這會形成濃密的雲層，

which release heat into the air.

將熱量釋放到空氣中。

In the right conditions,

在適當的條件下，

this creates an area of low pressure with warm air rising

就會形成一個低氣壓區，暖空氣上升，

and cooler air being sucked in at the bottom.

冷空氣被吸入底部。

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

由於地球在赤道附近的自轉速度更快，

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

吹向低氣壓區的風開始彎曲，

which causes the hurricane to spin. 文法

導致了颶風的旋轉。

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

颶風通常在登陸後就會開始消散，

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

因為它不再能獲得維持循環所需的溫暖水氣。

Unlike typical cyclones on Earth, 表達脈絡

與地球上典型的氣旋不同，

the Great Red Spot on Jupiter is an anticyclone,

木星上的大紅斑是一個反氣旋，

which forms around an area of high pressure.

形成於一個高氣壓區周圍。

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

大紅斑的動力由其兩側的兩股噴射氣流提供，

which give the storm a constant spin,

這兩股氣流使風暴保持持續旋轉，

but stop it from moving across the planet. 文法

卻也阻止了它在整個行星上移動。

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

地球上的風暴由太陽的熱量驅動，

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

而木星上的風暴則由其金屬核心的熱量驅動，

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

這裡的溫度可能高達5萬度。

The combination of rising heat and fast-moving clouds

不斷上升的熱量和快速移動的雲層結合在一起，

are what push the Great Red Spot around

推動著大紅斑四處移動，

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

速度可達每小時680公里。

Since Jupiter is a gas giant,

因為木星是一顆氣態巨行星，

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

它沒有海洋和陸地的對比來作為屏障。

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

海王星上的風暴形成於類似的、

deep in the atmosphere.

大氣層深處的高壓區域周圍。

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.

高壓區域通常能看到白色的甲烷雲。

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

一旦海王星上的風暴發展到最大規模，

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

邊緣的風速最高可達每小時2100公里，

the fastest in our solar system.

這是太陽系中最快的速度。

Unlike Jupiter's Red Spot,

與木星大紅斑不同的是，

the storms on Neptune get pushed around the planet, 文法

海王星上的風暴會被推著環繞整個行星，

where they get shredded by powerful crosswinds.

在那裡它們會被強大的側風撕裂。

Because of this,

正因為如此，

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

海王星上的風暴通常只會持續幾個月到幾年不等。

Since Jupiter is much easier to see from Earth,

由於從地球上更容易觀測木星，

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

我們對大紅斑的觀測可以追溯到1665年，

when astronomer Gian Domenico Cassini first discovered the giant storm.

當時天文學家喬瓦尼·多梅尼科·卡西尼首次發現了這個巨大的風暴。

Since then,

從那時起，

we have been able to observe the Red Spot 文法

我們就能夠一直觀測大紅斑，

and watch it evolve over time. 文法

看著它隨著時間推移不斷演變。

However,

然而，

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

這些觀測結果表明，這場標誌性風暴可能即將走到盡頭。

When it was observed in the 19th century,

當19世紀觀測到大紅斑時，

the Great Red Spot was 40,000 km long

它的長度為4萬公里，

and 14,000 km tall.

高度為1.4萬公里。

At that point,

在那個時候，

it could have swallowed two or three Earths whole. 文法

它足以一口吞下兩三個地球。

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

但當70年代末航海家1號飛掠時，

it was almost half the size. 文法

它的尺寸幾乎縮小了一半。

Recent observations by the Hubble telescope

哈伯望遠鏡最近的觀測表明，

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

這場風暴目前正以每年約1000公里的速度縮小，

meaning it could completely disappear by the 2030s. 文法

這意味著它可能在2030年代前完全消失。

As well as losing size, 文法

除了尺寸變小之外，

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

主紅斑似乎正在分裂成更小的流體，

and darkening in color.

顏色也在變暗。

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

科學家認為，由於風暴正在延伸到大氣層更高的位置，

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

大紅斑的頂部暴露在更多的紫外線下，

which darkens the color of the chemicals.

這使得化學物質的顏色變深了。

But,

但是，

like predicting the weather here on Earth,

就像預測地球上的天氣一樣，

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

對於這些巨大的風暴，我們還有太多未知之處。

When Neptune's dark spot was first discovered,

當海王星的暗斑剛被發現時，

scientists thought that it had been around for centuries,

科學家們還以為它已經存在了幾個世紀，

just like Jupiter's storm.

就像木星的風暴一樣。

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

大紅斑也比我們最初想像的要熱得多，

with parts of its upper atmosphere exceeding 1300 degrees. 文法

上層大氣某些部分的溫度超過了1300度。

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

即使我們的觀測技術不斷進步，

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

在這些巨大而神祕的行星深處，

mysterious planets waiting to be discovered. 文法

仍有無數的知識等待著我們去探索。

So,

所以，

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

儘管我們可能會失去太陽系中最具標誌性的特徵之一，

the observations we make of it

但對它的觀測

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

將讓我們更好地了解大自然是如何在整個太陽系中運作的。

Thank you very much for watching,

非常感謝您的觀看，

and I'll see you in the next video.

我們下支影片再見。