評論
打印
度假勝地觀星—愜意無比
Stargazing at a 1)Resort, in Comfort
As the sun sets over the Atacama Desert in Chile each reliably cloudless night, 2)dazzling 3)ruby red and 4)garnet hues paint the volcanic Andes Mountain peaks in the eastern skyline, deepening almost 5)imperceptibly until they are 6)indistinguishable from black. That would be the grand 7)finale at many resort areas. But here, it is merely the opening act.
在每一個晴朗無云的夜晚，當太陽從智利的阿塔卡馬沙漠落下時，東方天際的安第斯火山的頂峰籠罩著一片耀眼的紅色，這種寶石紅與石榴紅調和而成的色彩幾乎在不知不覺中加深，直到與夜黑融為一體。對于許多度假勝地來說，這將意味著一天的完美結束，而在這里，僅僅是開場表演。
After the nearest star had set one evening last August, I peered through the 8)Meade 16-inch telescope in the 15-foot 9)observatory of the Hotel de Larache in San Pedro de Atacama to see the main attraction: the Alpha Centauri stars that, without the benefit of 10)magnification, look like one; the misty, yellow Swan Nebula; and the Scorpio 11)Constellation’s bi-winged Butterfly Cluster.
去年八月，當最亮的那顆星星掛上天幕時，我正站在圣佩德羅阿塔卡馬的拉臘什酒店那15英尺高的望臺上，用16英寸長的米德望遠鏡欣賞夜空最具吸引力的半人馬座阿爾法星群（如果沒有被望遠鏡放大的話，它看起來就像只有一顆星星）和朦朧的黃色天鵝星云以及天蝎座的雙翼蝴蝶星群景象。
This remote desert, roughly 800 miles north of Santiago, offers some of the clearest views of the Milky Way in the world, making it a natural home to a cluster of high-tech research observatories used by international astronomers. The resorts at Atacama are no 12)outliers. Stargazing has increasingly become an alternative to traditional after-sundown dining and drinking at hotels and resorts. Call it night life for nerds.
在這個距離智利首都圣地亞哥以北約800英里的偏遠沙漠，人們可以看到一些世界上最為清晰的銀河景觀，于是這里便成了望臺的聚集地，國際天文學家通過這些高科技研究型望臺來研究夜空。阿塔卡馬的這些度假勝地也不例外。以前每當日落后，人們在酒店和度假勝地吃飯飲酒消遣，而現在，觀星已逐漸成了另一種選擇。觀星就是書呆子們的夜生活。
“For people who live in the cities, the only way to see the stars in safety and in comfort without worrying about what might happen in the dark is at a resort,” said Rick Fienberg, a spokesman for the American Astronomical Society, based in Washington.
美國天文學會（總部設于華盛頓）發言人里克·弗因伯格說：“現在，對于住在城市的人來說，要安全舒適地觀星而不必擔心黑夜里會發生什么，就只能在度假勝地觀星了。”
I first encountered stargazing tourism several years ago at the Maui Resort and Spa in Hawaii, a 40-acre resort with 13)sweeping views of Kaanapali Beach. Instead of drinking 14)mai tais at the bar or attending a 15)luau, I joined Eddie Mahoney, an astronomer, who led our group of 12 to the roof of the hotel’s nine-story main building. The relatively high perch and resort lighting—designed to 16)angle down rather than shine up—preserved the dark setting for his three 50-minute nightly public stargazing sessions ($25 a person).
幾年前，我在夏威夷的毛伊島水療度假村首次接觸到“觀星游”這一概念，在這個40英畝的度假勝地上，卡亞納帕里海灘的風光可以盡收眼底。我沒有在酒吧喝邁代雞尾酒，也沒去參加夏威夷烤豬派對，而是跟隨天文學家埃迪·馬奧尼帶領的12人小組去高達九層的酒店主樓樓頂觀星。較高的位置和度假村的照明（該設計使燈光向下投射而非向天上散射）使黑夜的環境得以保存，從而使埃迪·馬奧尼主持的三場夜間公開觀星活動得以順利進行，每場活動持續50分鐘，費用為每人25美元。
