太空中的双眼捕捉到太阳风暴的三维图像
Seeing Double: Eyes in the sky to catch the eruption of solar storms in 3-D用两只眼睛看：太空中的双眼捕捉到太阳风暴的三维图像
NASA said in a press release this week that twin spacecraft providing long-view, 3-D images of the sun might help provide better warning about solar storms, particularly events called coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
在本周的一次新闻发布会上，NASA公布说双子探测器（即日地关系天文台Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory，译注）获得的太阳长时间三维图像可能会帮助我们更好地预报太阳风暴，即被称为日冕物质抛射（CMEs）的特殊天象。
These torrents of ionized gas and magnetic field energy can weigh billions of tons and stretch to many times the size of Earth. When these solar hurricanes come into contact with our planet’s atmosphere, they can damage satellites, interfere with radio communications and cell phones, and knock out power grids on the ground, as they did on March 13, 1989, leaving six million Canadians without power. (Besides wrecking havoc, CMEs also produce dazzling displays known as the aurora borealis or australis, the northern and southern lights.)
这些携带着高能磁场的等离子气体的急流包含数十亿吨中的物质，可以延伸到数倍地球大小的范围。当太阳风暴到达地球轨道并与撞击地球顶层大气，它们就会破坏人造卫星，干扰无线电通信和手机通讯，还会破坏地面的输电网，其先例是1989年3月13日，太阳风暴导致六百万加拿大人失去电力。（除了造成严重破坏，CMEs还会引起光彩夺目的的美景，即众所周知的北极光和南极光）
To better understand the mass and structure of these stellar ejecta and track their velocity, NASA has turned to the dual STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) satellites. Launched in 2006, the spacecraft "bracket" Earth, with one traveling in front of the planet and the other trailing behind in their orbits around the sun. This arrangement, rather like the spacing of our eyes (making Earth the schnoz in this analogy), allows for depth perception, ergo 3-D. Just as this ability helps us discern movement and direction, so, too, will STEREO provide astronomers with eyes in the sky to accurately follow the solar outbursts.
为了更好地了解这些恒星喷射物的质量和结构，并追踪它们的运动速度，NASA已经求助于由两颗卫星组成的日地关系天文台。日地关系天文台发射于2006年，两艘太空船将地球夹在中间，其中一艘位于地球绕太阳公转轨道的前进方向上，另一艘则尾随着地球。（实际上，两个探测器分布位于地球轨道前方和后方的两个拉格朗日点L4、L5，译注）这种安排，类似于我们双眼的位置关系（在这个类比中地球就像是鼻子），有利于对深空进行探测，从而获得三维图像。正如双眼的这一能力使我们可以清楚地分辨运动以及方向，所以，类似的，日地关系天文台就像天文学家在太空中的双眼，由此可以精确追踪太阳风暴。
At present, the forecasting ability for CMEs is spotty. The BBC reports that STEREO should improve astro-meteorological predictions because the twin spacecraft should allow scientists to better say which CMEs may actually strike Earth as well as give them a better sense of when. This early warning system, which may provide notice up to 24 hours in advance is important not only for the planet's satellite fleet, whose craft can individually prepare by powering down or changing their orientation, but also for astronauts in the International Space Station, and doubly so for spacewalking astronauts, whose spacesuits only offer protection from normal levels of space radiation. The powerful radiation of CMEs can damage DNA and tissue, increasing the risk of cancer, for instance.
当前，对CMEs的预报能力还很低，BBC报道说，日地关系天文台应该进一步提高对太空气象的预测能力，因为科学家可以根据双子探测器的观测结果更好地确定具体是哪一股日冕物质抛射可能侵袭地球，并确定比较准确的侵袭时间。这个可以提前24小时给出危险警报的预警系统，不但对地球上空的人造卫星系统非常重要，因为卫星的设计使其可以关闭动力或调整姿态从而免受破坏，而且对在国际空间站工作的宇航员也很重要，尤其是对正在执行太空行走任务的宇航员，因为舱外航天服仅有对正常水平宇宙辐射的保护能力。CMEs中的高能辐射可以破坏DNA和生物组织，从而增加罹患癌症等疾病的风险。
Right now the sun is in the most dormant phase (so-called solar minimum) of its 11-year sunspot cycle. More sunspots mean stormier stellar climes, although it is clear sailing for the time being. However, activity should ramp up by around 2013, when the STEREO project and space weather monitoring systems based on it should have their work cut out for them with a bounty of solar hurricanes to track.
目前太阳处于11年的太阳黑子活动周中最平静的时期（即所谓的太阳活动极小期）。太阳黑子越多就意味着太阳气候越不稳定，尽管暂时一切看上去都风平浪静。但是，最晚到2013年左右，预测能力将会得到加强，届时日地关系天文台工程和基于该工程的太空气象监控系统将开始进行追踪太阳风暴的工作。 没图也没发表时间吗 早先忘了贴原文出处，现在补上：
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=solar-storms-seen-in-3-d-2009-04-15
另外，此文是《环球科学》，即《科学美国人》中文版今年第5期译文擂台的文章，我的文章竟然没入选，虽然后来公布的所有易错点我都译对了。
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