評論
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What if they held a meteor storm and no meteors came?
假如他們認(rèn)為有流星風(fēng)暴，而沒有流星點(diǎn)亮夜空怎么辦?
That's what many people are asking after the well-hyped May Camelopardalids meteor outburst turned out to be a dud.
就像現(xiàn)在一樣，當(dāng)被大肆宣傳的五月份流星雨并沒有如期而至?xí)r人們都在詢問個中緣由。
Most meteors arise from mere dust grains and pebbles in space.
大多數(shù)流星來自于宇宙空間中的塵土顆粒和沙礫等微小顆粒。
When Earth passes through a stream of this debris shed by a comet, the particles burn up in our atmosphere, and we see a meteor shower.
當(dāng)?shù)厍虼┻^彗星散落的一連串碎片時產(chǎn)生摩擦，這些微粒就在大氣中燃燒起來，這就是我們看到的流星雨。
Some astronomers had predicted that on the night of May 23, particles from a comet called LINEAR would bring many meteors to the night sky.
一些天文學(xué)家預(yù)測5月23的晚上，來自彗星LINEAR的微小粒子將帶來眾多流星劃破夜空。
North America had the best seats for the event.
北美是最佳觀測位置。
And so a lot of people watched and waited.
所以很多人都在期盼天空，等待這一神奇天文現(xiàn)象出現(xiàn)。
But no one saw much.
但是人們并沒有看到那么多。
Meteor showers are common, and the best produce about a hundred meteors per hour.
流星雨非常常見，而且每小時最多產(chǎn)生100多個流星。
But meteor storms, which can send out thousands of meteors per hour, are rare and notoriously unreliable.
但是流星風(fēng)暴非常少見，而且很難預(yù)測，流星風(fēng)暴每小時可以產(chǎn)生數(shù)以千計(jì)的流星。
Not only can predicted storms go bust, but great storms can erupt without warning.
流星風(fēng)暴的預(yù)測不僅有可能失敗，而且巨大的流星風(fēng)暴常會毫無征兆的爆發(fā)。
In November 1966, the normally weak Leonids surprised everyone and roared back to life, producing more than 100,000 shooting stars in a single hour.
比如在1966年11月，通常比較微弱的獅子座流星群震撼了所有人，它在僅一小時內(nèi)就產(chǎn)生了10萬顆流星。
You can still count on astronomers to tell you exactly when the next eclipse will be.
你仍然可以指望天文學(xué)家告訴你下一次日蝕的確切時間。
But if they ever promise you a meteor storm, you should take it with a grain of, well, meteor dust.
但是如果他們承諾你會有流星風(fēng)暴，你大可以不必相信。
