如果月球是顆迪斯可球會怎樣？：英語精讀講義

Hey, Vsauce.

嘿，Vsauce。

Michael here.

我是 Michael。

If we turned the moon into a giant disco ball, 文法

如果我們把月球變成一顆巨大的迪斯可球，

day and night would

那麼白天和黑夜

not be a disco party.

都不會變成一場迪斯可派對。

Instead of diffusely reflecting sunlight onto all of us, 講解

它不會把陽光以漫反射的方式照向我們所有人，

a mirror-tiled moon would reflect specularly.

鋪滿鏡面磚的月球會產生鏡面反射。

You would be lucky to momentarily catch a single reflected beam of sunlight. 片語搭配

你得非常幸運，才可能短暫捕捉到一束反射過來的陽光。

Now with the help of visuals by Nick from Yeti Dynamics, 片語搭配

現在，藉助 Yeti Dynamics 的 Nick 製作的視覺畫面，

who you should subscribe to immediately,

你應該立刻訂閱他的頻道，

let's see what would occur if a disco ball moon actually happened. 表達脈絡

讓我們看看月球真的變成迪斯可球會發生什麼事。

Here's the Earth with an imaginary screen behind it,

這是地球，後面放著一面假想的螢幕，

so we can track the path of reflections from a disco ball moon. 文法

這樣我們就能追蹤迪斯可球月球反射光的路徑。

Its 3,012 mirror tiles are 10 km thick 片語搭配

它的 3,012 塊鏡面磚厚達 10 公里，

and between 100 and 150 km across.

每塊的寬度介於 100 到 150 公里之間。

And as you can see, 表達脈絡

如你所見，

the beams of sunlight they reflect

這些鏡面磚反射出的陽光束

would only intersect with Earth briefly and rarely. 用詞

只會偶爾短暫地照到地球。

A few every month or so 片語搭配

大約每個月會有幾束

would race past at more than 20,000 km a second.

以每秒超過 20,000 公里的速度飛馳而過。

From the surface of Earth,

從地球表面看，

they'd just be tiny flashes in the sky,

它們看起來只是天空中微小的閃光，

0.1% as bright as the regular sun, 文法

亮度僅為平時太陽的 0.1%，

and would last a fraction of a second. 片語搭配

而且只能持續幾分之一秒。

The Earth, Sun, and Moon

地球、太陽和月球

just aren't in ideal locations for disco ball effects.

所在的位置實在不適合產生迪斯可球效果。

But if our disco ball moon was closer

但如果我們的迪斯可球月球離地球更近，

and orbited Earth not 384,000 km away,

繞行地球時不是相距 384,000 公里，

but less than 450 as far as the International Space Station does,

而是像國際太空站那樣，距離不到 450 公里，

it would be torn apart by gravitational tidal forces. 講解

它就會被重力造成的潮汐力撕碎。

Shoot. 語氣意圖

糟糕。

Also, the Moon doesn't really rotate from our perspective like a fun disco ball. 片語搭配

此外，從我們的視角來看，月球其實不會像有趣的迪斯可球那樣轉動。

It librates, 用詞

它會產生天平動，

but it's starting to look like instead of an awesome lunar party decoration,

但現在看來，它不但成不了超酷的月球派對裝飾，

a disco ball moon would just be a lunar party pooper. 慣用語

迪斯可球月球反而會成為月球派對裡的掃興鬼。

So, for the sake of investigation, 片語搭配

所以，為了繼續研究，

let's allow this disco ball moon to not be torn apart

我們就假設這顆迪斯可球月球不會被撕碎，

and allow it to spin in the sky. 文法

並讓它在天空中旋轉起來。

Now we're talking. 慣用語

這才像話嘛。

Occasionally, we would get glittery reflections of a dimmer image of the Sun.

偶爾，我們會看到閃閃發亮的反光，映出一個較暗的太陽影像。

From the surface of Earth,

從地球表面看，

this is what we would see.

我們會看到這樣的景象。

You know, being able to see Earth reflected is almost cooler. 文法

你知道嗎，能看到地球的倒影，感覺幾乎更酷。

It's like being a bacterium on a giant's face who's looking into a mirror. 表達脈絡

這就像你是一個待在巨人臉上的細菌，而巨人正對著鏡子看自己。

You can see the giant,

你看得到巨人，

but not yourself. 文法

卻看不到自己。

It kind of makes you feel small, 講解

這會讓你覺得自己有點渺小，

but it would be a great way to take planetary selfies.

但這會是拍攝行星自拍照的絕佳方式。

So, let's watch a mirror the width of the Moon

那麼，來看看一面和月球一樣寬的鏡子

orbit as close as the ISS does. 文法

在像國際太空站那麼近的軌道上繞行地球。

From the surface of Earth,

從地球表面看，

it would look like this.

它看起來會是這樣。

The strobe lights around the edge,

至於邊緣那些頻閃燈，

by the way, 表達脈絡

順帶一提，

are 10 km across.

每盞都有 10 公里寬。

Pretty cool.

挺酷的。

Now, finally, let's take a look at the Moon 講解

最後，讓我們從低軌道上看看月球

as a rotating disco ball from low orbit.

化作旋轉的迪斯可球是什麼樣子。

The Moon is not a disco ball, 文法

月球不是迪斯可球，

and likely never will be.

而且很可能永遠都不會是。

It's just a diffuse source of illumination.

它只是一個漫射光源。

But it's illuminating in a different way 慣用語

不過，從另一個角度看，這種想像也很有啟發性：

to imagine what would occur if it actually happened.

想想如果它真的發生，會出現什麼情況。

Woah.

哇。

And as always,

一如往常，

thanks for watching.

謝謝收看。