美洲再现罕见“超级花血月全食”

The phrase "once in a blue moon" can refer to the second full moon in a month.

短语“once in a blue moon”可以指一个月内出现的第二次满月。

But it's a moon of a red shade that stargazers across the Americas were looking up for on Sunday night.

这是一颗周日晚上美洲各地的天文学家仰头观测的红色月亮。

The total lunar eclipse was also at least partly visible in Africa, Europe and some Pacific nations.

在非洲、欧洲和一些太平洋国家，也至少能看见部分月全食景象。

It was called the Super Flower Blood Moon, and here's what all that means.

这次月全食被称为超级花血月全食，这就是它的全部含义。

A supermoon might appear to be bigger and brighter than a normal full moon, because it occurs when the moon is closer in its elliptical orbit of earth.

超级月亮可能看起来比普通的满月更大更亮，因为这种景象发生在月球离地球的椭圆轨道更近的时候。

It was there at perigee on Sunday night.

周日晚上的近地点会出现超级月亮。

"Flower," because as the old "Farmer's Almanac" says, this is the time of year when flowers bloom in the northern hemisphere.

称为“花”是因为，正如古老的《农用年历》所说，这是北半球一年中鲜花盛开的时节。

And "blood" is the result of the moon's reddish shade during a total lunar eclipse.

而称为“血月” 则是因为发生月全食时月亮略带红色色调。

A lunar eclipse is when the moon passes through the earth's shadow.

月食是指月亮通过地球阴影时的景象。

This only occurs during a full moon.

这种景象只发生在满月的时候。

Two factors decide which of three possible eclipses the moon will experience--the tilt of the moon's orbit around the earth, and which of the earth's two shadows the moon falls behind.

两个因素决定了月食是三种可能的月食中的哪一种--一是月球绕地球轨道的倾斜状态，二是月球落在地球两个阴影中的哪一个的后面。

The earth's darker inner shadow is known as the umbra, and the lighter outer one is called the penumbra.

地球内部较暗的阴影被称为本影，较浅的外部阴影被称为半影。

The penumbral eclipse is when the moon passes through -- you guessed it -- just the penumbra.

半影月食是指月亮通过地球--你猜对了--半影时的景象。

NASA says this type of eclipse is so subtle that if you didn't know it was happening, you might not even notice it.

美国国家航空航天局表示，这种类型的月食非常不易察觉，如果你不知道正在发生月食，你甚至可能不会注意到它。

A partial eclipse is when the moon only gets covered by part of the earth's umbra, so only part of it is shaded in darkness by the earth.

月偏食是指月球只被地球本影的部分覆盖，因此只有部分月球被地球遮蔽在黑暗中。

A partial eclipse happens at least twice a year.

月偏食一年至少发生两次。

And then, there's the big one, the total lunar eclipse.

然后，还有一个盛大的景象，月全食。

These are rare, often separated by years, and require the moon, earth and sun to be in perfect alignment.

这种景象很罕见，通常相隔几年出现，需要月亮、地球和太阳处于完美的直线上。

But don't think this blacks out the moon.

不过，不要认为月亮全部被遮蔽了。

As the moon shifts deeper into the umbra, it takes on a red hue which is sometimes called a blood moon.

随着月亮被本影遮蔽得更深，月亮会呈现出红色，有时这种月亮被称为血月。

The moon turns red because the atmosphere is filtering out color at the opposite end of the visible spectrum, the blue light.

月亮变红是因为大气过滤掉了可见光光谱中红色另一端的颜色，即蓝色光。

The short wavelengths of blue don't travel as far as the long red wavelengths so they scatter before reaching our eyes, leaving behind the red glow.

蓝色的短波长不会像红色的长波长传播得那么远，所以它们在到达我们的眼睛之前就散射了，留下了红色的光。

Not everyone on earth can see a lunar eclipse at the same time.

并不是地球上每个人都能同时看到月食。

You'll need to be in an area facing the moon during the moments it's shaded by earth.

在月球被地球遮挡的时刻，你需要在一个面向月球的区域观看。

Unlike a solar eclipse, you don't need any special equipment to enjoy a lunar eclipse.

与日食不同，欣赏月食不需要任何特殊设备。

They're safe to watch at any stage, although a pair of binoculars might make it more fun.

在任何阶段都可以安全地观看月食，尽管一副望远镜可能会让观看变得更有趣。