2015-04-01 BBC:星光七纪元-21

This is a new source of energy. And this, of course, resists the force of gravity, and in fact, causes the outer atmosphere of the star to expand. The star has begun its dramatic transformation¹ into a red giant. For our own sun, the change will be orangish firing. As in its final years, it turns against the planets in its care. The first thing that happens is it expands out as far as Mercury's orbit here and swallows the Mercury. In this stage it’s about 1000 times more luminous² than the sun as it is today. It continues to expand and within another million years also, it gets as far as Venus, and that's end of Venus. Venus is swallowed up. And then the sun continues out towards the earth. If we could see it, we would see something nearly 3000 times brighter than the sun as it is today. It will be 260 times bigger than it is today. But it will not have that beautiful tight compactness of the sun today. Gas will be streaming off the surface. It will be red and turbulent, slightly transparent³. It almost seems to become a part of seas. Our only chance of survival would be to flee long before this crisis and go in search for another solar system to call home.

1 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

2 luminous   

adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的

参考例句：

• There are luminous knobs on all the doors in my house.我家所有门上都安有夜光把手。
• Most clocks and watches in this shop are in luminous paint.这家商店出售的大多数钟表都涂了发光漆。

3 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。