化為六月息

-----【原文】-----  

INTRO: Moon disappears in magical lunar eclipse over Greece's ancient city. 


STORY: Ancient Greece boasts some of the greatest astronomers in history. It was believed the ancients could predict eclipses. But despite their scientific minds eclipses were believed to be controlled by the mythological(神話的) gods and taken as omens(預兆), putting an end to armed conflicts, and sacrifices were often made to appease(平息) the anger of the gods.

Modern Greek amateur(業餘的) astronomers in Athens however were thrilled by the first lunar eclipse since 2004, toting(搬運) massive telescopes into parks and on hills to view the magical site.

The silver moon disappeared from sight just after midnight on Saturday over the city's ancient monuments(遺跡) as the earth cast its shadow across its surface, many stopping on the streets to watch the final phases of the eclipse.

Another lunar eclipse will take place in August of this year but is not expected to be visible from Greece. Lunar eclipses are more common than solar eclipses, as the earth is a large planet and casts a bigger shadow.

A reddish(淡紅色的) hue is formed on the planet from the restraction of sunlight in the earth's atmosphere, but it was not visible to the naked eye. The last total lunar eclipse was on October 28, 2004, and the next will occur on August 28 2007.







-----【初譯】-----

【主播】在星期六的午夜時分，當地球開始將自己的陰影投射至月球表面時，掛在希臘雅典城夜空中的皎潔明月，漸漸消失，有許多民眾站在街頭觀看這次的月蝕現象。


【報導內容】相傳古希臘人深信，那些希臘歷史上赫赫有名的天文學家，具有預測月蝕何時發生的能力。儘管古希臘人已經具備了這樣的科學頭腦，但他們仍相信月蝕是由神所操控的，並且視月蝕為戰爭結束的預兆，或是眾神憤怒的象徵，進而殺牲獻祭於生氣的眾神。

上一次的月全蝕現象，發生在2004年的十月二十八日。在當時的希臘雅典城(Athens)，一些愛好觀察天文奇景的業餘人士，搬運了巨型望遠鏡到公園或是小山丘上，進行他們永難忘懷的第一次月蝕觀測。

根據推測，在今年的八月二十八日，將會發生另一次的月全蝕現象，但在希臘這裡卻無法觀看到。由於地球所投射出的陰影遠大於月球本身，因此月蝕現象比日蝕還容易發生。