三合一大禮包 | 日全食、春分、超級月亮一個也不能少

06-07

Friday, March 20, will see an astronomical triple play when a rare total solar eclipse occurs on the same day as the vernal equinox, and a supermoon makes an appearance.本周五（3月20日）將上演天文現象「三合一」：春分當天發生日全食，還能看到「超級月亮」。A total eclipse occurs when the moon comes between Earth and the sun, casting a lunar shadow onto the Earth』s surface along a narrow, 62-mile-wide (100-kilometer) path.當月亮位於地球和太陽之間時，沿一條寬62英里（即100公里）的路徑在地球表面投下陰影，全日食現象由此產生。The March 20 total solar eclipse event will be the first since Nov. 3, 2013. The dark umbral shadow cone of the moon will trace a curved path primarily over the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, beginning off the southern tip of Greenland and then winding its way counterclockwise to the northeast, passing between Iceland and the United Kingdom.此次3月20日的日全食是2013年11月3日以來的第一次。月球造成的圓錐形陰影將沿曲線路徑掠過北大西洋和北冰洋地區，從格陵蘭南端開始，然後按逆時針方向到達東北部，掠過冰島和英國。

為了讓英國觀測者們能為這次十年難得一遇的大事件做好充分準備，《每日郵報在線》列出了日食觀測時間表和一些常見的日食相關的問題。

Will It Go Dark If It"s Cloudy?陰天也會變暗嗎？

Absolutely.當然。Meteorologist Simon Partridge says: 『I would expect it to still look dark — as dark as night in some places. The last time we had an eclipse, some of the light-sensitive street lamps went on.』氣象學家西蒙·帕特里奇說：「還是會變暗的，在某些地方就跟夜晚一樣。上次日食的時候，一些光感應的街燈都亮起來了。」But don』t sneak a peek — even if the cloud refuses to shift. Edward Bloomer, astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, says: 『Even thick cloud cover is transitory, and even a very short exposure to unfiltered sunlight can permanently damage your vision.』但是哪怕雲遮住了也千萬不要偷看。格林威治皇家天文台的天文學家愛德華·布魯默說：「哪怕是最厚的雲層也只是片刻的，而哪怕只是一瞬間暴露在毫無遮攔的陽光下，也會對視力造成傷害。」

Where"s The Best Place To See It?哪裡是最好的觀測點？

The further north you go, the better you are to witness this momentous event (weather permitting). The best place will be the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, near Aird Uig, at 9.36am.越往北走越有利於觀測這次日食，當然是在天氣允許的前提下。（英國的）最佳觀測地點在西海岸的路易斯島，靠近Aird Uig，時間是早上9點36分。

Will It Affect The Economy?會影響經濟嗎？

The last time Britain had a solar eclipse, the Mail reported that thousands of office workers poured into the streets. At Westminster, MPs and staff emerged on to the House of Commons terrace and roof.

據《每日郵報》報道，上次日食時，英國成千上萬的辦公室職員跑到街上觀測，而在西敏寺，議員和工作人員則擁到了下議院的露台和屋頂上。

With millions expected to watch the latest celestial light show, just one hour』s lost work would cost the economy ￡625million, according to ONS statistics, based on the fact that the UK』s workers do work worth ￡5billion in an eight-hour day.預計將有百萬人參與觀測此次日食。根據ONS數據，每一個八小時的工作日，英國工作人員創造50億英鎊的價值，那麼一小時的曠工會給經濟造成6.25億英鎊的損失。

一個浪漫的約定：哈雷彗星

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