探索太阳活动周期的秘密

Space weather is next. It's heavily influenced by the flares and ejections of the sun, which is estimated to be a 10,000 degree ball of helium and hydrogen in the middle of our solar system.

接下来报道太空天气。 太空天气深受太阳耀斑和日冕物质抛射的影响，据估计，太阳是太阳系中央一个温度有10,000度的由氦和氢组成的球体。

NASA says it has a fleet of spacecraft that studied the sun's activity, its environment and how what happens on its surface can impact what happens in our atmosphere.

美国国家航空航天局表示，他们拥有一支研究太阳活动、太阳环境以及太阳表面发生的事情如何影响我们大气层发生的事情的航天器舰队。

Rachel Crane explains why our nearest star is so mysterious.

雷切尔·克兰解释了为什么离我们最近的恒星如此神秘。

The sun is what gives us life and supports us, but it also poses dangers.

太阳给予了我们生命，支撑着我们，但太阳也带来了危险。

It is governed by a strong, unknown, hidden force, the magnetic field.

太阳被一种强大的、未知的、隐藏的力量所控制，这种力量就是磁场。

Despite shining down on the earth for millennia, there's still a lot we don't know about the sun.

尽管太阳照耀了地球数千年，但关于太阳，我们仍有很多不了解的地方。

One of the biggest questions scientists are investigating now is how our host star's magnetic field affects its regular cycle of activity. It's called the solar cycle.

科学家们目前正在研究的最重大的问题之一是，我们的主恒星磁场如何影响其正常的活动周期。这被称为太阳周期。

The solar cycle is the roughly 11-year period of fluctuating activity of the sun's magnetic field and over those 11 years, the sun's poles completely flip meaning the north pole becomes the south and the south the north.

太阳周期是指太阳磁场活动波动的大约11年的周期，在这11年里，太阳的两极完全翻转，这意味着北极变成了南极，南极变成了北极。

This cycle can be visibly measured by an increase and decrease of sunspots on its surface.

这个周期可以通过太阳表面黑子的增减来进行明确测量。

The least sunspots in an 11-year period is considered solar minimum, while the most sunspot signifies the solar maximum.

太阳黑子数量最少的11年时期被认为是太阳活动极小期，而太阳黑子数量最多的时期则代表太阳活动极大期。

No two solar cycles are the same, and often vary in activities.

没有两个太阳周期是相同的，而且太阳活动常常不同。

What are sunspots and why are they dark?

什么是太阳黑子，为什么它们是黑色的?

Sunspots appears as dark spots on the solar surface because they're cooler than the rest of the sun, at 6,500 degrees Fahrenheit.

太阳黑子以黑斑的形式呈现在太阳表面，因为它们比太阳的其他部分温度低，达到6500华氏度。

Cooler doesn't sound like more active, right?

温度更低听起来并不像是会更活跃，对吧?

That's actually a pocket of very, very intense magnetic field.

这实际上是一个非常非常强的磁场。

The reason the temperature goes down is because the magnetic fields in those areas are so strong that they create a barrier, stopping heat from the sun from reaching the surface.

温度下降的原因是这些区域的磁场太强了，以至于形成了一个屏障，阻止太阳的热量到达地表。

Solar maximum also results in increased activity in the sun's atmosphere known as the corona.

太阳活动极大期还会导致太阳大气层日冕活动增加。

That activity creates bright and active regions that are rooted in the sunspots below and are the origin of solar flares or coronal mass ejections.

这种活动产生了明亮而活跃的区域，这些区域根植于太阳黑子的下方，是太阳耀斑或日冕物质抛射的来源地。

A super flare.

一个超级耀斑。

Okay, so it's not like a Nic Cage disaster movie, but solar maximum can have consequences in space and on earth.

好，超级耀斑并不像尼克·凯奇灾难片中的那样，但太阳活动极大期会对太空和地球造成影响。

The sun impacts space weather which can disrupt satellites, GPS and telecommunication systems, and it can endanger our infrastructure too, including the power grid.

太阳会影响太空天气，扰乱卫星、GPS和电信系统，也会危及我们的基础设施，包括电网。

Plus, radiation from the sun can be dangerous for astronauts working outside the ISS.

此外，来自太阳的辐射对在国际空间站外工作的宇航员来说很危险。

If we could better predict the timing and intensity of the solar cycle, more measures could be taken to protect from the sun.

如果我们能更好地预测太阳活动周期的时间和强度，就能采取更多的措施来保护我们免受太阳的伤害。

But increased solar activity can also create splendor for us here on the pale blue dot.

但太阳活动的增加也可以为这个淡蓝色的小圆点(地球)上的我们创造辉煌。

Particles ejected from the sun interact with the gases in our atmosphere.

从太阳抛射出来的粒子与我们大气层中的气体相互作用。

That intermingling results in the northern and southern lights a beautiful display of colors close to the earth's poles.

这种相互交织使北极光和南极光在接近地球两极的地方呈现出美丽的色彩。

So what causes the solar cycle?

那么是什么导致了太阳周期呢?

Well, we still don't know, but NASA and the European Space Agency are on the case, sending probes closer than ever and from new angles in hopes of filling in as many questions about the sun as they can.

嗯，我们仍然不知道是什么原因，但美国宇航局和欧洲航天局正在研究这个问题，他们将探测器从新的角度发射到比以往更接近的地方，希望能尽可能多地解答有关太阳的问题。