Sky-watchers have had a busy year so far in 2024. There has been much to see among the stars and planets. In April, many people in the United States were able to watch a total eclipse of the sun. Coming up in the next few months there will be a nova of two stars. This week, we will learn about some of the special words you can use to talk about objects and events in the sky.
2024 年迄今为止，天文观测者度过了忙碌的一年。恒星和行星中有很多值得一看的地方。 4月份，美国很多人都能够观赏到日全食。在接下来的几个月里将会出现一颗由两颗恒星组成的新星。本周，我们将学习一些可以用来谈论天空中的物体和事件的特殊词汇。
Visible to the naked eye
肉眼可见
A nova is a star explosion. A pair of stars called T Corona Borealis, called the “Blaze Star,” will become very bright, so people almost everywhere on Earth, even in cities, can see it. Scientists say the event will be “ visible to the naked eye” which means you do not need any special tools, like binoculars or a telescope, to see it. Visible is an adjective form related to the word “ view .”
新星是恒星爆炸。一对名为 T Corona Borealis 的恒星，被称为“火焰星”，将变得非常明亮，因此地球上几乎任何地方的人们，甚至在城市中，都可以看到它。科学家表示，这一事件将“肉眼可见”，这意味着您不需要任何特殊工具，例如双筒望远镜或望远镜，就可以看到它。可见是与“视图”一词相关的形容词形式。
The two stars that form the Blaze Star produce an outburst, or increased period of energy, around every 80 years. Rebekah Hounsell is an assistant research scientist specializing in nova events at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
形成火焰星的两颗恒星大约每 80 年就会爆发一次，或者说能量增加期。丽贝卡·豪塞尔 (Rebekah Hounsell) 是位于马里兰州格林贝尔特的美国宇航局戈达德太空飞行中心的助理研究科学家，专门研究新星事件。
“We don’t often see a repeated outburst in a human lifetime, and rarely one so relatively close to our own system,” Hounsell said. Material from one star moves toward another and causes the explosion, or outburst, of energy. This makes the bright light we can see from Earth.
豪塞尔说：“我们在人的一生中并不经常看到重复的爆发，也很少有与我们自己的系统如此接近的爆发。”来自一颗恒星的物质向另一颗恒星移动并引起能量爆炸或爆发。这使得我们可以从地球上看到明亮的光。
Constellation
星座
Scientists say they are not sure exactly when we will be able to see the nova. But you will surely hear about it on the news. Your next question might be, “How can I find it in the sky?” This is when you will need to know the word “constellation” and how to find one in the sky. A constellation is a group of stars. Some constellations look like particular shapes to people on Earth. The nova coming this year is in the constellation Corona Borealis, or Northern Crown.
科学家表示，他们不确定我们何时能够看到这颗新星。但你肯定会在新闻中听到它。你的下一个问题可能是：“我怎样才能在天空中找到它？”这时您需要了解“星座”这个词以及如何在天空中找到一个星座。星座是一组恒星。对于地球上的人们来说，有些星座看起来像是特定的形状。今年出现的新星位于北冕座。
There are many uses for the preposition “between” for talking about the upcoming nova and its constellation. If you make an imaginary line between the stars it in you get a curved line that looks like a head piece worn by kings and queens. To find it, you can look for the two brightest stars in the Northern Hemisphere, Arcturus and Vega. In the space between them you will find two constellations, Hercules and Bootes. Northern Crown is between them.
介词“之间”有很多用途，用于谈论即将到来的新星及其星座。如果你在星星之间画一条假想的线，你会得到一条曲线，看起来像国王和王后戴的头饰。要找到它，您可以寻找北半球最亮的两颗恒星：大角星和织女星。在它们之间的空间中，您会发现两个星座：武仙座和牧夫座。北冠位于他们之间。
People enjoyed another event in the sky in April: a total eclipse of the sun. The moon moved between Earth and the sun, causing a shadow, or an area of darkness, on Earth. The path of the moon’s shadow on Earth is called the “path of totality.” We can change an adjective such as “total” to a noun with the noun suffix -ity. The resulting noun means the state or condition of what the adjective describes. For example it is used with “active” to form “activity.”
人们在四月享受了天空中的另一件事：日全食。月球在地球和太阳之间移动，在地球上造成阴影或黑暗区域。月球影子在地球上的路径被称为“全食路径”。我们可以将诸如“total”之类的形容词更改为带有名词后缀 -ity 的名词。由此产生的名词表示形容词所描述的状态或条件。例如，它与“active”一起使用形成“activity”。
The next total eclipse on Earth will be August 12, 2026, and it will be visible in Spain.
地球上的下一次日全食将于 2026 年 8 月 12 日发生，在西班牙可见。
To learn more about the nova see our Science story: https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/nasa-nova-explosion-to-be-once-in-lifetime-event-in-night-sky/7664089.html
要了解有关新星的更多信息，请参阅我们的科学故事：https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/nasa-nova-explosion-to-be-once-in-lifetime-event-in-night-sky/7664089.html
A free online star map on this website will help you find the constellations in the sky where you live.
该网站上的免费在线星图将帮助您找到您居住的天空中的星座。