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But the sun is much more than a giant lightbulb.
但是太陽不只是個巨大的燈泡
There are other forces at work in the sun.
其內(nèi)部還有其他的力量正在運作
Forces that change over minutes and over years.
這些力量可能在數(shù)分鐘或數(shù)年內(nèi)改變
Forces that tear the surface apart.
撕裂太陽表面
We are only now beginning to understand these forces
我們現(xiàn)在才開始了解這些力量
and the effects they have on the Earth.
及它們對地球的影響
But we have known about them for hundreds of years.
但我們早在幾百年前，就知道它們的存在
Because the sun gets spots.
因為太陽上會出現(xiàn)黑點
Sun spots are dark regions on the surface of the Sun,
太陽黑子是出現(xiàn)在太陽表面的黑色區(qū)域
typically about the size of the Earth in terms of area.
一般來說，大小和地球差不多
Here's a live shot of one today.
這是今天拍到的即時影像
Unfortunately we've got a very windy day with high thin clouds,
可惜今天風很大，而且高空有稀薄的云層
so the picture's bouncing around and not very sharp,
所以畫面晃得很厲害，畫質(zhì)也不清晰
but with very high resolution images we can see
但以高解析度來看，就能看到
detailed structure in the sun spot.
太陽黑子的仔細構(gòu)造
The inner part of the sun spot,
太陽黑子的內(nèi)部…
the dark umbra as we call it is dark
即所謂的暗影
only in comparison to the rest of the sun.
只是與太陽其他地方對比下，才顯得黑暗
It's actually bright enough that it would blind you
其實暗影很亮，單獨直視它的話
if you looked at it alone.
會瞎掉
The spots are not static.
太陽黑子并非靜止不動
These video images show the edges of the spot crawling,
我們拍到的畫面顯示，黑子的邊緣
almost as if it was alive.
正在鮮活蠕動
The movements of sunspots have been studied
自從伽利略用望遠鏡觀察太陽
for four hundred years.
對其行為有重大發(fā)現(xiàn)后
Ever since Galileo trained his telescope on the sun
人類就開始研究太陽黑子的活動
and made the first crucial discovery about its behaviour.
至今已四百多年
Surprised to see black dots creeping over the surface
伽利略驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)，太陽表面有移動的黑點
he kept track of them over a number of days
因此連續(xù)觀察了好幾天
and found that they were all moving in the same direction.
結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)它們都朝著相同的方向移動
To Galileo the meaning was clear
對伽利略而言，其意義再清楚不過
the sun was rotating
太陽在旋轉(zhuǎn)
and was turning faster at the equator than at the poles.
而且赤道旋風的速度比兩極快
It was a discovery that was to prove critical
這項發(fā)現(xiàn)對我們
in our understanding of how the sun works.
了解太陽的作用機制至關(guān)重要
Ever since Galileo records have been
自伽利略之后
kept of the coming and goings of sunspots
人們便開始記錄太陽黑子的出現(xiàn)與消失
and variations soon became clear.
其變異很快就呼之欲出
Sometimes the sun is covered in hundreds of spots
有時太陽表面出現(xiàn)數(shù)以百計的黑子
other times there are none at all.
有時連一個都沒有
