VOA日常语法2024--Talking about What We See in Space

Sky-watchers have had a busy year so far in 2024. There has been much to see among the stars and planets. In April, many people in the United States were able to watch a total eclipse of the sun. Coming up in the next few months there will be a nova of two stars. This week, we will learn about some of the special words you can use to talk about objects and events in the sky.

Visible to the naked eye

A nova is a star explosion. A pair of stars called T Corona¹ Borealis, called the "Blaze Star," will become very bright, so people almost everywhere on Earth, even in cities, can see it. Scientists say the event will be "visible to the naked eye" which means you do not need any special tools, like binoculars² or a telescope, to see it. Visible is an adjective form related to the word "view."

Outburst

The two stars that form the Blaze Star produce an outburst, or increased period of energy, around every 80 years. Rebekah Hounsell is an assistant research scientist specializing in nova events at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

"We don't often see a repeated outburst in a human lifetime, and rarely one so relatively³ close to our own system," Hounsell said. Material from one star moves toward another and causes the explosion, or outburst, of energy. This makes the bright light we can see from Earth.

Constellation⁴

Scientists say they are not sure exactly when we will be able to see the nova. But you will surely hear about it on the news. Your next question might be, "How can I find it in the sky?" This is when you will need to know the word "constellation" and how to find one in the sky. A constellation is a group of stars. Some constellations⁵ look like particular shapes to people on Earth. The nova coming this year is in the constellation Corona Borealis, or Northern Crown.

Between

There are many uses for the preposition "between" for talking about the upcoming nova and its constellation. If you make an imaginary line between the stars it in you get a curved line that looks like a head piece worn by kings and queens. To find it, you can look for the two brightest stars in the Northern Hemisphere, Arcturus and Vega. In the space between them you will find two constellations, Hercules and Bootes. Northern Crown is between them.

Totality

People enjoyed another event in the sky in April: a total eclipse of the sun. The moon moved between Earth and the sun, causing a shadow, or an area of darkness, on Earth. The path of the moon's shadow on Earth is called the "path of totality." We can change an adjective such as "total" to a noun with the noun suffix⁶ -ity. The resulting noun means the state or condition of what the adjective describes. For example it is used with "active" to form "activity."

The next total eclipse on Earth will be August 12, 2026, and it will be visible in Spain.

And that's Everyday Grammar!

I'm Andrew Smith.

Words in This Story

eclipse - n. an occasion when the sun looks like it is completely or partially⁷ covered with a dark circle because the moon is between the sun and the Earth

nova - n. a star that suddenly increases greatly in brightness and then within a few months or years becomes less bright again

visible - adj. able to be seen

view - v. to look at (something) carefully

particular - adj. used to indicate that one specific person or thing is being referred to and no others

curved - adj. having a round shape

1 corona   

n.日冕

参考例句：

• The corona gains and loses energy continuously.日冕总是不断地获得能量和损失能量。
• The corona is a brilliant,pearly white,filmy light,about as bright as the full moon.光环带是一种灿烂的珠白色朦胧光，几乎像满月一样明亮。

2 binoculars   

n.双筒望远镜

参考例句：

• He watched the play through his binoculars.他用双筒望远镜看戏。
• If I had binoculars,I could see that comet clearly.如果我有望远镜，我就可以清楚地看见那颗彗星。

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 constellation   

n.星座n.灿烂的一群

参考例句：

• A constellation is a pattern of stars as seen from the earth. 一个星座只是从地球上看到的某些恒星的一种样子。
• The Big Dipper is not by itself a constellation. 北斗七星本身不是一个星座。

5 constellations   

n.星座( constellation的名词复数 )；一群杰出人物；一系列（相关的想法、事物）；一群（相关的人）

参考例句：

• The map of the heavens showed all the northern constellations. 这份天体图标明了北半部所有的星座。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His time was coming, he would move in the constellations of power. 他时来运转，要进入权力中心了。 来自教父部分

6 suffix   

n.后缀；vt.添后缀

参考例句：

• We add the suffix "ly" to make the adjective "quick" into the adverb " quickly ".我们在形容词“ quick”后加“ly” 构成副词“quickly”。
• It described the meaning of suffix array and also how to built it.它描述的含义，后缀数组以及如何建立它。

7 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。