You owe it to yourself to experience a total solar eclipse | David Baron

翻译人员: Lipeng Chen 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

Before I get to bulk of what I have to say,

在我谈到正题之前，

I feel compelled just to mention a couple of things about myself.

我觉得有必要做个简短的自我介绍。

I am not some mystical,

我不是什么神秘的，

spiritual sort of person.

有特殊精神追求的人。

I'm a science writer.

我是名科技写手。

I studied physics in college.

在大学，我主修物理。

I used to be a science correspondent for NPR.

我曾经是NPR（国家广播电台）的 科学通讯员。

OK, that said:

好的，就这么多。

in the course of working on a story for NPR,

在帮NPR写一篇稿子时，

I got some advice from an astronomer

我从一名天文学家那里 得到了一些建议，

that challenged my outlook,

而这些建议挑战了我的观点，

老实说，还改变了我的一生。

and frankly, changed my life.

You see, the story was about an eclipse,

这篇稿子是关于日食的，

a partial solar eclipse that was set to cross the country

1994年5月穿过国境的

in May of 1994.

日偏食。

And the astronomer -- I interviewed him,

那个天文学家——我采访了他，

and he explained what was going to happen and how to view it,

他解释了会发生什么， 以及如何观测日偏食，

but he emphasized that, as interesting as a partial solar eclipse is,

但是他强调，虽然同日偏食一样有趣，

a much rarer total solar eclipse is completely different.

更稀少的日全食却完全不同。

In a total eclipse, for all of two or three minutes,

在日全食时， 月球会完全遮挡太阳，

the moon completely blocks the face of the sun,

长达两到三分钟，

creating what he described as the most awe-inspiring spectacle

形成我们所描述的在自然中 最令人感到敬畏的

in all of nature.

奇观。

And so the advice he gave me was this:

所以他给我的建议是：

"Before you die," he said,

“你死之前，”他说道，

"you owe it to yourself to experience a total solar eclipse."

“你欠自己一次日全食的体验。”

Well honestly, I felt a little uncomfortable

老实说， 听到一个不那么熟的人

hearing that from someone I didn't know very well;

和你说这些， 我感到有些不舒服；

it felt sort of intimate.

语气有些私人化。

But it got my attention, and so I did some research.

但是这引起了我的注意， 所以我做了些研究。

Now the thing about total eclipses is,

关于日全食你要知道，

if you wait for one to come to you,

如果你原地等它光顾，

you're going to be waiting a long time.

你要等很久很久。

Any given point on earth experiences a total eclipse

在地球上固定的一点， 要400年才能经历

about once every 400 years.

一次日全食。

But if you're willing to travel, you don't have to wait that long.

但是如果你乐意旅行， 你就不需要等那么久。

And so I learned that a few years later, in 1998,

我了解到几年后，在1998年，

a total eclipse was going to cross the Caribbean.

一次日全食将穿过加勒比。

Now, a total eclipse is visible only along a narrow path,

日全食只在一条 狭小的路径上才能看到，

about a hundred miles wide,

只有一百多英里宽，

and that's where the moon's shadow falls.

那里就是月球的阴影所在。

It's called the "path of totality."

它叫做“日全食带”。

And in February 1998,

在1998年的2月，

the path of totality was going to cross Aruba.

日全食带将穿过阿鲁巴。

So I talked to my husband, and we thought: February? Aruba?

我告诉了我丈夫， 我们想了想：二月？阿鲁巴？

Sounded like a good idea anyway.

反正听起来挺不错的。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So we headed south,

所以我们南下，

to enjoy the sun and to see what would happen

去享受阳光， 并看看当太阳短暂不见的时候，

when the sun briefly went away.

会发生什么。

Well, the day of the eclipse found us and many other people

日食那天，我们和许多人

out behind the Hyatt Regency,

在凯悦酒店后面的

on the beach,

沙滩上，

waiting for the show to begin.

等待好戏上演。

And we wore eclipse glasses with cardboard frames

我们戴了纸框的日食眼镜，

and really dark lenses that enabled us to look at the sun safely.

非常黑的镜片保证我们 可以安全的直视太阳。

A total eclipse begins as a partial eclipse,

日全食以日偏食开场，

as the moon very slowly makes its way in front of the sun.

然后月亮慢慢的移动到太阳的前面。

So first it looked the sun had a little notch in its edge,

一开始，看上去 太阳的边上有了一个小缺口，

and then that notch grew larger and larger,

然后那个缺口越来越大，

turning the sun into a crescent.

把太阳变成了新月形。

And it was all very interesting, but I wouldn't say it was spectacular.

那真是非常有趣， 但还没到叹为观止的程度。

I mean, the day remained bright.

我的意思是，天仍然是亮的。

If I hadn't known what was going on overhead,

如果我不知道 头顶上将要发生什么，

I wouldn't have noticed anything unusual.

我不会注意到任何不寻常的事情。

Well, about 10 minutes before the total solar eclipse was set to begin,

日全食开始前的十分钟，

weird things started to happen.

奇怪的事情开始发生了。

A cool wind kicked up.

冷风袭来。

Daylight looked odd, and shadows became very strange;

阳光看起来有些奇怪， 阴影也变得非常奇怪；

they looked bizarrely sharp,

它们看上去反常的尖锐，

as if someone had turned up the contrast knob on the TV.

就像是有人调高了电视的对比度。

Then I looked offshore, and I noticed running lights on boats,

然后我看了看海上， 我注意到船上的灯光，

so clearly it was getting dark,

很显然那里变暗了，

although I hadn't realized it.

尽管我还没意识到。

Well soon, it was obvious it was getting dark.

很快，很明显变暗了。

It felt like my eyesight was failing.

那感觉就像是我的视力在下降。

And then all of a sudden,

然后一下子，

the lights went out.

光线全没了。

Well, at that,

那时，

a cheer erupted from the beach,

海滩上爆发出一阵欢呼，

and I took off my eclipse glasses,

我摘下日食眼镜，

because at this point during the total eclipse,

因为日全食的那个时刻，

it was safe to look at the sun with the naked eye.

裸眼看太阳是安全的。

And I glanced upward,

我朝上看着，

and I was just dumbstruck.

真的呆住了。

Now, consider that, at this point, I was in my mid-30s.

考虑到那个时候，我三十多岁，

I had lived on earth long enough to know what the sky looks like.

在地球上生活也有些年头了， 早就知道了天空是什么模样。

I mean --

我想说——

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I'd seen blue skies and grey skies

我见过蓝色的天空，灰色的天空，

and starry skies and angry skies

星光闪闪的天空，愤怒的天空，

and pink skies at sunrise.

以及日出时粉色的天空。

But here was a sky I had never seen.

但这是我从未见过的天空。

First, there were the colors.

首先注意到的是颜色的变换。

Up above, it was a deep purple-grey,

上空，那是深的紫灰色，

like twilight.

就像是黎明。

But on the horizon it was orange,

但是地平线上是橘色的，

like sunset,

像是日落，

360 degrees.

360度。

And up above, in the twilight,

上空，好似黄昏，

bright stars and planets had come out.

闪亮的星星出来了。

So there was Jupiter

那是木星，

and there was Mercury

那是水星，

and there was Venus.

还有金星。

They were all in a line.

它们在一条线上。

And there, along this line,

而那里，在这条线上，

was this thing,

还有这个东西，

this glorious, bewildering thing.

这个辉煌的，令人说不清的东西。

It looked like a wreath woven from silvery thread,

它看上去就像是用银丝 编织出的花环，

and it just hung out there in space, shimmering.

就挂在宇宙空间中，闪闪发光。

That was the sun's outer atmosphere,

那是太阳的外层大气，

the solar corona.

日冕。

And pictures just don't do it justice.

图片根本无法显示它的真实面貌。

It's not just a ring or halo around the sun;

那不只是绕着太阳的 一个环或光圈。

it's finely textured, like it's made out of strands of silk.

那是细心编织过的， 就像是用丝做出来的一样。

And although it looked nothing like our sun,

尽管那看上去一点也不像太阳，

of course, I knew that's what it was.

当然，我知道它是什么。

So there was the sun, and there were the planets,

那个是太阳， 周围还有行星，

and I could see how the planets revolve around the sun.

我可以看到行星 如何绕太阳旋转。

It's like I had left our solar system

那感觉就像是我离开了太阳系，

站在某个陌生的世界，

and was standing on some alien world,

looking back at creation.

回头观望。

And for the first time in my life,

那是我人生中第一次，

I just felt viscerally connected to the universe

发自内心的感受到， 在浩瀚的宇宙中，

in all of its immensity.

与它相联系。

Time stopped,

时间静止了，

or it just kind of felt nonexistent,

它就像不存在一样，

and what I beheld with my eyes --

我用双眼看到的——

I didn't just see it,

我不只是看到它，

it felt like a vision.

更像是感知到了一个幻影。

And I stood there in this nirvana

我站在这仙境中，

for all of 174 seconds -- less than three minutes --

整整174秒——不到三分钟——

when all of a sudden, it was over.

然后突然，它结束了。

The sun burst out,

阳光重现，

the blue sky returned,

蓝天回归，

the stars and the planets and the corona were gone.

星星和日冕不见了。

The world returned to normal.

世界恢复了正常。

But I had changed.

但是我变了。

And that's how I became an umbraphile --

这就是我如何变成了日食追逐者——

an eclipse chaser.

一个捕捉日食奇观的人。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So, this is how I spend my time and hard-earned money.

这就是我如何花掉了我的时间， 以及辛苦赚来的钱。

Every couple of years, I head off to wherever the moon's shadow will fall

每过几年，我就会到 月亮阴影所在的地方，

to experience another couple minutes

去感受宇宙恩赐的

of cosmic bliss,

几分钟时间，

and to share the experience with others:

去与他人分享经历：

with friends in Australia,

和澳大利亚的朋友，

with an entire city in Germany.

和德国的整座城市。

In 1999, in Munich, I joined hundreds of thousands

1999年，在慕尼黑， 我和占满了街道和屋顶的

who filled the streets and the rooftops and cheered in unison

成百上千人一起， 当日冕出现时，

as the solar corona emerged.

一同欢呼。

And over time, I've become something else:

随着时间流逝，我又变了：

an eclipse evangelist.

日食传道者。

I see it as my job

我把它视为我的职业，

to pay forward the advice that I received all those years ago.

去传递若干年前我接收到的建议。

And so let me tell you:

所以我想和你们说：

before you die,

在你们死之前，

you owe it to yourself to experience a total solar eclipse.

你们欠自己一次日全食的体验。

It is the ultimate experience of awe.

这是对“敬畏”的终极体验。

Now, that word, "awesome," has grown so overused

现在，“awesome”这个词已经被滥用了，

that it's lost its original meaning.

它失去了原本的含义。

True awe, a sense of wonder and insignificance

真正的敬畏 (awe)， 在面临伟大事物时感受到的

in the face of something enormous and grand,

惊奇和渺小，

is rare in our lives.

在我们生活中很少见。

But when you experience it, it's powerful.

但是当你感受它时，很强烈。

Awe dissolves the ego.

敬畏消除了自我。

It makes us feel connected.

它让我们感到了彼此间的联系。

Indeed, it promotes empathy and generosity.

事实上， 它鼓励了同理心和慷慨。

Well, there is nothing truly more awesome than a total solar eclipse.

没有比日全食更令人敬畏的事情了。

Unfortunately, few Americans have seen one,

不幸的是， 很少有美国人见过日全食，

because it's been 38 years

因为距离上一次在美国大陆

since one last touched the continental United States

发生的日全食已经有38年，

and 99 years since one last crossed the breadth of the nation.

距离上一次跨越美国的日全食 已经过去了99年。

But that is about to change.

但是这会有所改变。

Over the next 35 years,

在接下来的35年，

five total solar eclipses will visit the continental United States,

将会有5次日全食造访美国大陆，

and three of them will be especially grand.

其中3次会异常壮观。

Six weeks from now, on August 21, 2017 --

六周后，2017年8月21号——

(Applause)

（掌声）

the moon's shadow will race from Oregon to South Carolina.

月球阴影将从俄勒冈州 行至南卡罗来纳州。

April 8, 2024, the moon's shadow heads north from Texas to Maine.

2024年4月8日，月球阴影将从 德克萨斯州北移至缅因州。

In 2045, on August 12,

2045年8月12日，

the path cuts from California to Florida.

这条日食带将贯穿加州到佛罗里达州。

I say:

我想说：

What if we made these holidays?

要是我们把这些天 作为节假日会怎么样？

What if we --

要是我们——

(Laughter)

（笑声）

(Applause)

（掌声）

What if we all stood together,

要是我们站在一起，

as many people as possible,

尽可能多的人站在月球阴影

in the shadow of the moon?

所及之处会怎么样？

Just maybe, this shared experience of awe would help heal our divisions,

也许，这令人敬畏的共同经历， 会帮助消除我们之间的隔阂，

get us to treat each other just a bit more humanely.

让我们对待彼此时多一些人性的关怀。

Now, admittedly, some folks consider my evangelizing a little out there;

我承认，有些人认为我的传道 有些过头了；

my obsession, eccentric.

我的狂热有些不正常。

I mean, why focus so much attention on something so brief?

为什么要关注那么短暂的东西？

Why cross the globe -- or state lines, for that matter --

为什么环游世界—— 穿过国境线，只为了——

for something that lasts three minutes?

只为了持续三分钟的东西？

As I said:

就像我刚才说的：

I am not a spiritual person.

我不是个有独特精神追求的人。

I don't believe in God.

我不相信上帝。

I wish I did.

我倒是希望我相信。

But when I think of my own mortality --

但是当我想到自己的死亡的时候——

and I do, a lot --

而我确实经常想到这件事——

when I think of everyone I have lost,

当我想到每一个我失去的人的时候，

my mother in particular,

特别是我的母亲，

what soothes me

抚慰我的

is that moment of awe I had in Aruba.

就是在阿鲁巴的那个敬畏时刻。

I picture myself on that beach,

我想象自己在海滩上，

looking at that sky,

仰望着天空，

and I remember how I felt.

我当时感受依然记忆犹新。

My existence may be temporary,

我的存在可能是短暂的，

but that's OK because, my gosh,

但是那无所谓，因为，我的天哪，

look at what I'm a part of.

看看我存在于一个 多么令人敬畏的空间。

And so this is a lesson I've learned,

所以这是我获得的经验，

and it's one that applies to life in general:

而且它可以被运用到所有生命：

duration of experience does not equal impact.

经历的长短并不能 衡量它所带来的影响。

One weekend, one conversation -- hell, one glance --

一个周末，一段对话—— 甚至只是一个凝视——

can change everything.

就可以改变一切。

Cherish those moments of deep connection with other people,

珍惜与他人、与自然世界产生

with the natural world,

深刻联系的瞬间，

and make them a priority.

并适当重视它们。

是的，我追逐日食。

Yes, I chase eclipses.

You might chase something else.

你也许会追逐其他东西。

But it's not about the 174 seconds.

但是这不只关乎174秒，

It's about how they change

这关乎它们会如何改变

the years that come after.

不远的将来。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）