2016-3-7

English

http://www.chinavoa.com/show-8362-235560-1.html

The moon has taken its fair share of beatings, as its craters attest. And last fall the moon took the biggest impact we've ever seen, when a huge meteorite slammed into the area known as the Mare Nubium basin.

月球已经得到足够多的伤害了，因为有月球上的火山口作证明。并且，去年秋天，月球遭受了我们所见范围内最大的一次冲击，当时一个巨型陨石撞击 被称为Mare Nubium盆地的区域。

Spanish astronomers spotted the September 11th collision using a telescope network that automatically scans the moon. The impact vaporized rock and created a flash of light brighter and longer than any we’ve ever recorded on the moon’s surface.

西班牙天文学家用自动监测月球的天文望远镜网络观测到了911撞击事件。这次撞击蒸发出岩石并且弄出比我们任何以往曾看到的出现在月球表面的更明亮持续时间更长的闪光。

The compact-car sized meteorite smashed into the moon at 61,000 kilometers per hour. The ensuing explosion had the force of 15 tons of TNT, creating a new crater 40 meters wide. Anyone on Earth who happened to be moon-gazing at the time would have seen a flash almost as bright as the North Star. [See video of the impact.]

简易汽车大小的陨石撞击月球的速度在每小时61000公里左右。已确定的撞击力相当于15吨的TNT炸药，创造出一个新的40米宽的月球坑。地球上的任何人，在当时若是碰巧在赏月 ，那他应该已经看到整个和北极星一样亮度的闪光了。

The moon gets pummeled by space rocks more often than Earth does because it lacks our protective atmosphere. The friction from passing through this blanket of air burns up most incoming meteors, letting through only the largest ones. Without such a shield, the moon is defenseless. Poor moon. But hey—better it than Earth!

月球比地球遭受了更多的宇宙岩石的撞击，因为它缺少我们地球外起保护作用的大气层。从外到里穿过的这种覆盖空气层燃烧掉大部分进入的陨石，只有最大的才能通过。没有这样一个屏障，月球是毫无防备的。可怜的月球。但是，嘿—— 还好不是我们地球没有防备。