史上最長的日食：英語精讀講義

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

這是協和式客機飛越非洲的畫面，一場無與倫比的飛行。

The sun,

太陽，

which was directly above Concorde,

當時正處於協和式客機的正上方，

just went completely dark

突然間完全變黑了，

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

這成為了有史以來被目擊的最獨特的日食。

Total solar eclipses are rare

日全食非常罕見，

and typically only last for a few minutes.

而且通常只持續幾分鐘。

But in 1973,

但在1973年，

scientists were able to cheat

科學家們卻能夠「作弊」，

and experience 74 minutes in the moon's shadow

在月球的陰影中體驗了74分鐘，

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

這得益於他們乘坐了唯一一架能夠追趕日食的交通工具。

This was an incredible mission that required pinpoint accuracy and timing

這是一項不可思議的任務，需要極高精度的定位和時機把握，

to intercept the moon's shadow

才能攔截住月球的影子，

as it traveled at over 2,000 km per hour

因為當時它正以每小時超過2000公里的速度

across the Earth's surface.

在地球表面移動。

We modeled the entire thing

我們對整個過程進行了建模，

to show you what this incredible mission looked like

向您展示這個不可思議的任務是什麼樣的，

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

以及一小隊科學家是如何成功完成它的。

In 1972,

1972年，

French astrophysicist Pierre Lena began preparing for the upcoming eclipse.

法國天體物理學家皮埃爾·萊納開始為即將到來的日食做準備。

This was to be one of the longest in history

這將是歷史上持續時間最長的日食之一，

with a duration of over 7 minutes.

持續時間超過7分鐘。

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

如此長時間的日食在未來200年內都不會再發生，

so he was eager to make the most of it. 慣用語

所以他非常渴望能充分利用這次機會。

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

他特別希望能觀察到太陽的日冕，

the area of hot gas

那是一片熾熱的氣體區域，

where the temperatures shoot from 5,000 degrees 用詞

那裡的溫度會從5000度

to over 1 million degrees.

飆升到100萬度以上。

The corona is usually invisible from Earth,

日冕通常在地球上是看不見的，

but during an eclipse,

但在日食期間，

the sun disappears

太陽會被遮擋，

and the corona lights up.

而日冕就會顯現出來。

But even during an eclipse,

但即使在日食期間，

studying the corona is difficult

研究日冕也很困難，

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

因為雲層和地球大氣層會造成阻礙。

And so for the 1973 eclipse,

因此，為了1973年的那次日食，

Pierre wanted to step things up a notch. 慣用語

皮埃爾希望能更進一步。

And so,

於是，

Pierre asked legendary Concorde test pilot Andre Turcat

皮埃爾詢問了傳奇的協和式客機試飛員安德烈·圖爾卡特，

if he could use Concorde to chase down the eclipse

看他是否能駕駛協和式客機來追趕日食，

and fill the plane with science equipment.

並把飛機裝滿科學設備。

Aérospatiale, the French side of Concorde,

協和計畫的法方公司——宇航公司（Aérospatiale），

were excited about the idea

對這個想法感到非常興奮，

and let him use prototype 001

並讓他使用001號原型機

for the flight with Turcat piloting the aircraft.

進行這次由圖爾卡特駕駛的飛行。

Although there were faster planes around,

雖然當時也有更快的飛機，

none of them could match the endurance

但沒有一架能比得上協和式客機的續航能力

or cabin space of Concorde.

或它的機艙空間。

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

皮埃爾和圖爾卡特開始著手制定一項飛行計畫，

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

以求在月球陰影中停留的時間最大化。

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

在了解這次飛行是如何運作的之前，

we need to understand the basic principles of solar eclipses.

我們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,

當月球從我們觀測太陽的視線前方經過時，就會發生日食，

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

它擋住了太陽的光線，並在地球上投下巨大的陰影。

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

陰影的大部分區域只會經歷日偏食，

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

但在陰影的最中心地帶，有一個小得多的區域，

where the sun is fully blocked.

那裡的太陽會被完全遮擋。

This is where the total eclipse happens.

這就是發生日全食的地方。

As the moon moves,

隨著月球的移動，

the shadow also moves across the Earth's surface,

陰影也在地球表面移動，

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

這意味著沿途的任何一點都只會經歷幾分鐘的完全黑暗。

For the 1973 eclipse,

對於1973年的日食，

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

陰影預計從南美洲的邊緣開始，

and work its way over to Africa, 慣用語

一路移動到非洲，

where the totality would be at its fullest. 用詞

在那裡全食的效果將達到最頂峰。

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

它將在地面上以大約每小時2200公里的速度移動，

slightly faster than Concorde's top speed.

這略快於協和式客機的最高速度。

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

皮埃爾和他的團隊必須弄清楚如何在陰影最終超過他們之前

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

盡可能長時間地留在月球的陰影中。

But during the planning stages,

但在規劃階段，

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

由於一次資料外洩，任務的消息走漏了風聲，

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

如果他們使用了Incogni，這事絕不會發生。

Just kidding,

開個玩笑，

that didn't happen.

這事並沒有發生。

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

但你是否知道，數據中間商會買賣我們的個人數據，

to marketing agencies who add you to a list,

賣給把你加入名單的行銷機構，

usually so they can send you pointless emails?

通常是為了給你發送毫無意義的電子郵件？

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

問題在於，他們資料庫裡的資訊很容易被犯罪份子洩露或竊取。

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

Incogni 會代表你主動聯繫這些行銷機構，

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

讓他們刪除所擁有的關於你的任何資料。

They contact each company individually,

他們會單獨聯繫每家公司，

so you don't have to. 文法

所以你不需要自己動手。

After a few months of Incogni,

使用 Incogni 幾個月後，

my spam emails have almost completely dropped off.

我的垃圾郵件幾乎完全消失了。

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

為了保護你的個人資訊並擺脫生活中的垃圾郵件，

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

請造訪 incogni.com/primalspace 並使用代碼 PRIMALSPACE 獲得 60% 折扣。

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

為了盡可能長時間地留在月球的陰影中，

Concorde had to follow a very precise flight plan.

協和式客機必須遵循非常精確的飛行計畫。

The best chance for achieving this was over Africa,

實現這一目標的最佳機會是在非洲上空，

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

但這並沒有給團隊留下很多機場的選擇。

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

非洲大多數的跑道對於協和式客機來說都太短了，

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

而且炎熱的氣候意味著協和式客機在起飛時必須攜帶較少的燃料。

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

他們最終選擇了大加那利島，

which had a cooler climate and a great runway.

那裡氣候較涼爽，並且擁有一條絕佳的跑道。

The plan was to take off,

計畫是起飛，

fly south,

向南飛行，

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

在茅利塔尼亞上空的特定點攔截月球的陰影，

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

在那裡飛機將轉向並跟隨著陰影穿過撒哈拉沙漠。

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

但陰影的路徑並不是筆直的，而是呈一個大弧線。

This would make science observations from inside Concorde very difficult

如果飛機必須不斷轉彎，

if it had to constantly make turns.

這將使在協和式客機內部進行科學觀察變得極其困難。

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

因此，皮埃爾和他的團隊想出了一條直線路徑，它將接觸到陰影的北邊緣，

cut across to its southern edge,

切穿到其南邊緣，

and end at its northern edge.

然後在北邊緣結束。

This would give them up to 80 minutes in the shadow

這將讓他們在陰影中停留長達80分鐘，

without having to make a single turn. 文法

而無需進行任何轉彎。

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

因為陰影的移動速度會比協和式客機稍微快一點，

it would eventually outrun it.

它最終會跑在飛機前面。

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

因此，團隊必須在陰影的前沿上的精確一點與它匯合。

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

如果他們晚到超過15秒或偏離了一公里，

they would fall out of the shadow much sooner

他們就會更早地掉出陰影外，

and their time in totality would be drastically reduced.

他們在全食中度過的時間將大幅減少。

But arriving at the intercept point so precisely

但是在充滿各種天氣變數的情況下，

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

如此精準地到達攔截點將是一個巨大的挑戰。

Luckily,

幸運的是，

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

安德烈·圖爾卡特是當時最頂尖的飛行員之一，並且他比任何人都更了解協和式客機。

With a solid flight plan,

有了可靠的飛行計畫後，

Pierre recruited four other teams of scientists

皮埃爾招募了另外四個科學家團隊，

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

他們將分別在協和式客機上進行實驗。

Since Concorde was going to fly over the equator,

因為協和式客機將飛越赤道，

the eclipse would be directly above the aircraft,

日食會直接出現在飛機正上方，

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.

因此協和式客機的機頂被挖出孔洞並安裝了特殊的窗戶，以便科學家們能清晰地觀察日食。

All of the seats were removed from the cabin

客艙內的所有座椅都被拆除，

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

並對電力供應進行了改裝，以向科學儀器供電。

After weeks of modifications,

經過數週的改裝，

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

世界上速度最快的科學觀測站已經準備好創造歷史了。

On the 30th of June,

在6月30日，

at precisely 10:08 in the morning,

上午正好10點08分，

Concorde began rolling down runway 21.

協和式客機開始在21號跑道上滑行。

Turcat had decided to take off 20 seconds early,

圖爾卡特決定提前20秒起飛，

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

這給了他時間來糾正可能使協和式客機減速的任何逆風情況。

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

事實證明這是一個明智的選擇，

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

因為那天早上的天氣更加顛簸，結果他們在爬升至預定高度時損失了8秒。

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

在到達攔截點之前還有12秒的時間需要耗掉，

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

圖爾卡特開始展開小型減速板，小心翼翼地降低一些速度。

This quickly brought them closer to the correct arrival time,

這使他們迅速接近了正確的到達時間，

but the winds continued to be unpredictable

但風況繼續變化莫測，

and Concorde slowed down too much,

且協和式客機減速過多，

falling 4 seconds behind the scheduled arrival time

落後了預定到達時間4秒，

with just a few minutes to go. 片語搭配

此時只剩幾分鐘。

In order to make up for this, 片語動詞

為了彌補這一點，

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

圖爾卡特短暫地將引擎推過了2.2馬赫的最大運行速度，

and Concorde arrived at the intercept point just 1 second late

最終，協和式客機僅晚了1秒到達攔截點，

and only a kilometer off course.

並且只偏離航線一公里。

At the exact same time,

就在同一時間，

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

太陽完全消失在月球後面，協和式客機現在陷入了完全的黑暗之中。

Despite it being midday, 文法

儘管正值正午，

the stars became visible

星星卻變得清晰可見，

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

科學家們也能透過窗戶看到太陽的日冕。

Concorde was now racing against time and the moon itself, 慣用語

協和式客機此刻正在與時間、與月球本身賽跑，

and so the scientists got to work.

科學家們也隨之投入到工作中。

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

皮埃爾和他的團隊研發了一台望遠鏡，可以測量來自太陽日冕的紅外光。

During the 74 minutes in the moon's shadow,

在月球陰影中的這74分鐘裡，

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

他們進行的測量加深了我們對黃道光的理解，

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

黃道光是我們太陽系中被太陽照亮的塵埃層。

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

來自美國的團隊發現了太陽的日冕具有聲波，

which cause it to pulse every 5 minutes. 文法

這會導致它每5分鐘脈動一次。

Concorde flew perfectly for 74 minutes

協和式客機完美飛行了74分鐘，

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

然後飛出了月球的陰影並在查德降落。

For the scientists and pilots on board,

對於機上的科學家和飛行員來說，

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

他們有幸從最獨特的視角見證了最美麗的奇觀之一。

This remains the longest eclipse experienced by humans,

這仍然是人類經歷過的最長的日食，

a record that will most likely remain for centuries. 文法

這項記錄很可能會保持幾個世紀。

And now for the Primal Space giveaway.

現在是 Primal Space 的福利時間。

The winner of the previous giveaway is Bruno.

上一次抽獎的獲勝者是 Bruno。

Congrats.

恭喜。

In the next video,

在下一期影片中，

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

我們將送出這張由 Primal Space 設計的協和式客機海報，

available in our store.

也可在我們的商店中購買。

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

您所需要做的就是在下面的連結中註冊，

like the video,

為影片按讚，

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

並留下一條評論，說說您對協和式客機和這次日食飛行的看法。

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

非常感謝您的收看，我們下期影片見。