Five planets will parade across the dawn sky earlyWednesday in a rare celestial spectacle set to repeatevery morning until late next month.
周三清晨，五顆行星將排隊穿過拂曉時分的天空。這一罕有天象大概天天都邑湧現，直到下月尾。
Headlining the planetary performance are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter. It will bethe first time in more than a decade that the fab five will be simultaneously visible to thenaked eye, according to Jason Kendall, who is on the board of the Amateur AstronomersAssociation of New York.
這場行星演出的主角分離是水星、金星、火星、土星和木星。據紐約業余天文喜好者協會(AmateurAstronomers Association of New York)委員賈森·肯德爾(Jason Kendall)稱，這將是十多年來，人們初次能用肉眼同時看到五顆行星。
Admission is free, though stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere should plan to get up about45 minutes before sunrise to catch the show. City dwellers can stay in their neighborhoods towatch, as long as they point their attention to the east, according to Mr. Kendall.
表演是免費的，但為了能遇上欣賞這一奇景，北半球的天文喜好者應當在日出前約莫45分鐘起床。肯德爾表現，都會住民可以留在本身地點的社區旁觀，只要把留意力會合在東方就好了。
“For Mercury you will need binoculars,” he said. “It will not jump out at you, but everybodyshould be able to see Venus and Jupiter.”
“旁觀水星的時刻須要用雙筒千裏鏡，”他說。“水星不會跳到你眼前，但全部人應當都能看到金星和木星。”
Mr. Kendall said that the hardest task for viewers will be discerning the planets from starstwinkling in the sky. But he offers a simple trick: close one eye, stretch out your arm and slowlypass your thumb over a bright dot in the sky. If the dot slowly dims out when your thumbpasses over it, it’s a planet. If it quickly blinks out, it’s a distant star.
肯德爾表現，旁觀者最難的是分辯出閃耀的恒星和那些行星。不外他給出了一個簡略的竅門：閉上一只眼睛，伸出一條胳膊，讓大拇指對準空中的一個亮點逐步挪動。拇指經由時，亮點假如逐步變暗就是行星，假如須臾消逝就是遠方的恒星。
The show is expected to run from Jan. 20 until Feb. 20, but the peak time to see all five is fromthe end of January until the first week of February, when Mercury is at its highest points,according to Sky & Telescope. The display is made possible by the uncommon alignmentof all five planets along what is called the “ecliptic” plane of their orbits according to Jim Green,the planetary science division director at NASA.
演出估計將從1月20日連續到2月20日，但同時看到五顆行星的絕佳時光是從1月末到2月的第一周。據《天空和千裏鏡》(Sky & Telescope)雜誌稱，這時代水星位於最高點。NASA行星科學部分賣力人吉姆·格林(Jim Green)稱，這一征象之以是成為大概，是由於五顆行星罕有地沿其軌道的“黃道”面分列成為了一條線。
Each planet will appear in the sky one by one, starting Tuesday evening with Jupiter around9:20 p.m. in New York. Mars will follow the gas giant’s solo debut, appearing as a reddish dotat approximately 1:11 a.m. E.S.T. Wednesday. Saturn enters next around 4:00 a.m., followedby Venus — the brightest orb — nearly an hour later. Mercury will join the ensemble last,taking the stage at around 6:17 a.m. It will last until the sun rises, at about 7:15 a.m. onWednesday in New York, and makes it too bright to see the planets. The display will appear inthe sky at similar times across the East Coast and before dawn across the northernHemisphere.
從周二晚上開端，幾大行星將一個接一個地出如今紐約的上空。木星將在晚上9點20分上下，開始零丁出如今空中。繼木星這顆氣態巨行星以後，火星將在東部夏令時光周三清晨1點11分上下湧現。人們看到的火星將是一個略帶赤色的圓點。接下來，土星將在清晨4點上下上場。再過近一個小時後，最亮的星球金星將登場。末了參加的水星將在早上6點17分上下上台。這一氣象將連續到日出，即紐約的周三早上7點15分上下。太陽升起後，由於光芒太亮，人們便看不到這些行星了。此情此景將在差未幾的時光出如今全部東海岸上空，並在拂曉前出如今全部北半球的上空。
“It’s not super often you get to see them all at the same time in the sky, it’s like seeing all ofyour friends at once,” said Jackie Faherty, an astronomer from the American Museum ofNatural History. “There they are, the other rocks or balls of gas that are running around thesun.”
“同時在空中看到這五顆行星的機遇不是特殊常見，就像同時見到全部的同夥，”美國天然汗青博物館(American Museum of Natural History)的天文學專家傑基·法赫蒂(Jackie Faherty)說。“如今他們來了——其他那些環繞著太陽扭轉的巖石或氣團。”
Those who miss the planetary alignment this time around will have another opportunity fromAug. 13 to 19, when the cosmic motley crew gives an encore performance, according toEarthSky.org. That show will take place in the dusk sky, giving stargazers in the SouthernHemisphere the best vantage points.
錯過這一次行星排成一線氣象的人，在8月13日到19日時代另有機遇。據EarthSky.org稱，在那時代，這些天領會再次送上一樣的表演。屆時，舞台將是傍晚時分的天空，南半球的天文喜好者將享有絕佳視角。
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