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Geminid meteor shower peaks December 14.
雙子座流星雨昨夜大爆發。
While the Gemini meteor shower is scheduled to happen between December 12th and the 16th, tonight the cosmic event will peak allowing viewers to watch shooting stars throughout the night sky.
雙子座流星雨的預計出現時間為12月13日至16日，今夜這一宇宙盛事將迎來大爆發，觀測者們今夜可以大飽眼福，看到流星隕落的美景。
Bill Cooke of the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office said, "Observers with clear skies could see as many as 40 Geminids per hour. Our all-sky network of meteor cameras has captured several early Geminid fireballs. They were so bright, we could see them despite the moonlight."
來自NASA流星體環境研究所的Bill Cooke表示：“如果天氣晴好，觀測者每小時能看到40顆雙子座流星。我們的全天候流星照相機捕捉到一些早到的雙子座流星，它們非常明亮，就算是在月光下也可以看清。”
People who want to see it should look up between 9pm and sunrise tomorrow morning. The Gemini meteor shower is an annual event that happens when "earth runs through a trail of dusty debris that litters the orbit of 3200 Phaethon." Although, this meteor shower and the reason behind it remains a bit of an enigma. NASA reports, "Comets vaporizing in hot sunlight naturally produce such debris trails, but rocky asteroids like 3200 Phaethon do not. At least they're not supposed to. The incongruity has baffled researchers since 1983 when 3200 Phaethon was discovered by NASA's IRAS satellite."
等待雙子座流星雨的觀測者可以從今晚的9點到明天凌晨持續關注。雙子座流星雨是每年都會出現的三大流星雨之一（另外分別是象限儀座流星雨和英仙座流星雨）。當地球遇到小行星3200法厄同的星塵“尾巴”時，就形成了雙子座流星雨（雙子座也是唯一母體非彗星的流星雨）。不過雙子座形成的原因至今還有一些謎團未解開。根據美國宇航局NASA的報道：“彗星在熾熱的太陽光線的照射下會自然蒸發出一些星塵軌跡，但如3200法厄同這樣的巖石小行星卻不會，所以情況本不該如此。自1983年這種IRAS衛星發現3200法厄同行星以來，這種不協調的現象讓科學家們大惑不解。"
It's a good thing the science doesn't have to totally make sense to appreciate the beauty in the sky tonight. So, have a cup of coffee with dinner, and stretch your neck for some perfect star gazing tonight.
科學無法解釋這種美景也許是件好事，就讓我們今晚在夜空中靜靜欣賞吧。所以就在今夜，泡杯咖啡，伸長脖子，凝望夜空中的完美流星表演吧。
詞匯點津：
NASA （National Aeronautics and Space Administration）美國國家航空和宇宙航行局
