VOA科学技术2025--The Sky Promises Many Big Events in 2025

The world will have to wait until 2026 for the next total solar eclipse. However, the sky promises plenty of other big events in 2025.

The new year starts off with a six-planet parade in January that people will be able to see for weeks. The smallest planet, Mercury, will join the crowd for a seven-planet line in February.

The Planetary Society's chief scientist Bruce Betts said about the visible planets, "People should go out and see them sometime during the next many weeks. I certainly will."

Here is a look ahead to the major sky events in 2025:

Eclipses

The moon will disappear for more than an hour over North and South America on March 14. The event will be followed two weeks later by a partial solar eclipse. People in Maine, eastern Canada, Greenland, Europe, Siberia and northwestern Africa will be able to watch the show.

In September, there will be an even longer total lunar eclipse over Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Two weeks later, a partial solar eclipse will take place in the area over the South Pacific, including New Zealand and parts of Antarctica.

Supermoons

Three supermoons are coming this year in October, November and December.

The full moon will look especially big and bright those three months as it orbits closer to Earth than usual.

November's supermoon will come closest, passing within 356,980 kilometers from Earth. Last year had four supermoons, ending in November.

Planet parade

This month, six of our seven neighboring planets will line up in the sky to form a long arc. All but Neptune¹ and Uranus² should be visible with the eye just after sunset, weather permitting.

The parade will continue for weeks. Mercury will make a short appearance by the end of February. The planets will slowly exit, one by one, through spring.

Northern and southern lights

Geomagnetic storms painted the sky with beautiful colors in unexpected places last year.

Space weather experts predict more of these storms this year. Such storms could produce even more northern and southern lights.

The reasoning for the prediction is that the sun has reached its solar maximum during its current 11-year cycle. The cycle could continue through this year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric³ Administration's Shawn Dahl urges everyone to follow space weather news, so as not to miss any colorful shows.

Meteor showers

The Perseid and Geminid meteor events, or showers, are well-known crowd-pleasers. The Perseids will take place in August. The Geminids come in December. But do not forget about the smaller meteor showers including the Lyrids in April, the Orionids in October and the Leonids in November.

Areas away from cities, where night skies are darker, are best for watching the events. Generally, meteor showers are named for the constellation⁴ which they appear to come from. They take place whenever Earth moves through paths of debris⁵ left behind by comets and sometimes asteroids⁶.

Words in This Story

eclipse - n. the total or partial obscuring of one celestial⁷ body by another

supermoon - n. a kind of full moon that takes place when the moon is at or near the closest point to earth in its orbit

arc - n. a special kind of curved or arched path

maximum - n. the upper limit; the highest or furthest point

cycle - n. a course or series of events or operations that happen regularly

constellation - n. a configuration⁸ of stars

debris - n. the remains of something (often said of something that has been destroyed or broken)

1 Neptune   

n.海王星

参考例句：

• Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun.海王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Neptune turned out to be a dynamic,stormy world.海王星原来是个有生气、多风暴的世界。

2 Uranus   

n.天王星

参考例句：

• Uranus is unusual because it is tilted.天王星非常特殊，因为它是倾斜的。
• Uranus represents sudden change and rebellion.天王星代表突然性的改变和反叛。

3 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

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 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

6 asteroids   

n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 )；海盘车，海星

参考例句：

• Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
• Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。

7 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。

8 configuration   

n.结构，布局，形态，(计算机)配置

参考例句：

• Geographers study the configuration of the mountains.地理学家研究山脉的地形轮廓。
• Prices range from $119 to $199,depending on the particular configuration.价格因具体配置而异，从119美元至199美元不等。