美国有线新闻 CNN 加拿大阿尔伯塔省上空出现明亮流星

This week there were more than 400 reports of fire in the sky. They were mostly concentrated in and around Alberta, Canada though the meteor was also visible in other parts of that country and in the U.S. state of Montana. Thanks in large part to surveillance and doorbell cameras, the American Meteor Society received more than 100 videos of this. The thing was so bright it was classified as a fireball. According to NASA that means the rock could have been bigger than three feet in diameter. It's a shocking celestial¹ sight that looks really cool as long as it doesn't hurt anything. And as far as we know it didn't.

本周有400多起有关空中火球的报道。这些报道主要集中在加拿大阿尔伯塔省及其周边地区，不过在该国其他地区和美国蒙大拿州也能看到这颗流星。美国流星协会收到了100多个相关视频，这在很大程度上要得益于监控和门铃摄像头。这个物体非常明亮，被归类为火球。美国国家航空航天局（简称NASA）表示，这块岩石的直径可能超过3英尺。这是一种令人震惊的天体景象，它看起来很酷，只要不伤害任何东西。而据我们所知，它确实没有对任何东西造成伤害。

Scientists believe it was just a meteor not a meteorite². What's the difference? There are a lot of small rocks that are zinging through space. They're called meteoroids. If one of these rocks hit's the earth's atmosphere, it becomes a meteor. That's also known as a shooting star. The streaks³ you see across the sky are the result of meteors burning up in our atmosphere. Researchers say more than 90 percent of them burn up completely. If they don't do that though, if part of the rock survives its entry and smacks⁴ into the earth's surface, it's then classified as a meteorite.

科学家认为那只是一颗流星，并不是陨石。二者有何区别？有许多小岩石在太空中穿梭。它们被称为流星体。如果其中一块岩石撞上了地球大气层，它就会变成流星。Shooting star是流星的另一种说法。大家看到的划过天空的光迹是流星在大气层中燃烧的结果。研究人员表示，超过90%的流星会完全燃烧。如果没有完全燃烧，如果岩石进入大气层后有部分残留，它就会撞击地球表面，这部分被归类为陨石。

Thousands of tiny meteorites⁵ strike the earth every year but as far as we know the one seen this week in Canada wasn't one of them. It's believed to have been a meteor. There haven't been any fragments reported from the earth's surface. Initially⁶ scientists didn't know how big it was, how fast it was moving and what it was made of but they're able to piece together some information about it based on the multitude of different recordings⁷ taken from different cameras in different locations.

每年都有成千上万颗小陨石撞击地球，但据我们所知，本周在加拿大看到的那颗并不是其中之一。据信那是一颗流星。目前没有地球表面出现碎片的报告。起初，科学家不知道它的尺寸、移动速度以及组成，但他们能够根据不同地点不同摄像机拍摄的大量不同记录，拼凑出一些有关它的信息。

1 celestial   

adj.天体的；天上的

参考例句：

• The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。
• Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。

2 meteorite   

n.陨石；流星

参考例句：

• The meteorite in Jilin Exhibition Hall is believed to be the largest in the world.吉林展览馆的陨石被认为是世界上最大的。
• The famous Murchison meteorite smashed into the Australian ground in 1969.1969年著名的默奇森陨石轰然坠落在澳大利亚。

3 streaks   

n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹

参考例句：

• streaks of grey in her hair 她头上的绺绺白发
• Bacon has streaks of fat and streaks of lean. 咸肉中有几层肥的和几层瘦的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 smacks   

掌掴（声）( smack的名词复数 )； 海洛因； （打的）一拳； 打巴掌

参考例句：

• His politeness smacks of condescension. 他的客气带有屈尊俯就的意味。
• It was a fishing town, and the sea was dotted with smacks. 这是个渔业城镇，海面上可看到渔帆点点。

5 meteorites   

n.陨星( meteorite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Small meteorites have left impact craters all over the planet's surface. 这个行星的表面布满了小块陨石留下的撞击坑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One theory about the existence of extraterrestrial life rests on the presence of carbon compounds in meteorites. 地球外存在生命的理论是基于陨星上存在碳化合物质这一事实的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

7 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐