五百年一遇完美日全食

爱思英语编者按：7月22日，中国以及亚洲其他许多国家将迎来本世纪持续时间最长的日食。本次日食是从1991年7月11日到公元2132年6月13日年这141年间，全食持续时间最长的一次日全食。

Hundreds of millions of people across China, India and Japan will witness the longest solar eclipse of the century on Wednesday.

Tourists and scientists are flocking to the best viewing spots from across the globe for up to six minutes and 39 seconds of darkness. Scientists also hope to use the eclipse to gather crucial data.

But the phenomenon is also bringing uncertainty and fear in parts of Asia, where some believe it will bring bad luck. China"s cabinet, the state council, has ordered officials to dispel superstition by explaining the science behind the phenomenon.

Others have a more prosaic concern: bad weather threatens to mar the view for many in India and China.

The total eclipse will appear at dawn in India"s Gulf of Khambhat – north of Mumbai – moving east across India, Nepal, Burma, Bangladesh and Bhutan.

Its path across China will take in cities including Shanghai and pass across southern Japanese islands, with a last brief view from Nikumaroro Island in the South Pacific nation of Kiribati.

Many more people across the region will witness a partial eclipse.

"We"ll have to wait a few hundred years for another opportunity to observe a solar eclipse that lasts this long, so it"s a very special opportunity," Shao Zhenyi, an astronomer at the Shanghai

Astronomical Observatory, told the Associated Press.

Scientists hope it will provide data to explain solar flares and other structures of the sun and why they erupt, said Alphonse C Sterling, a Nasa astrophysicist who will be watching from China.

Suzhou, a popular city in Jiangsu province, China, is preparing to receive 10,000 overseas tourists and 100,000 domestic visitors, local media reported.

In India hundreds of scientists are gathering at Taregana, a village in Bihar, because they believe it is the ideal spot for observation.

And hotels on the small southern Japanese island of Yakushima are booked out as people arrive for a two-day festival to celebrate the country"s first total eclipse since 1963.

But in many countries eclipses have traditionally been seen as bad omens.

An an astrologer in Burma has predicted the event will trigger wars, instability and natural disasters, while in India some families are advising pregnant women to stay indoors in curtained rooms lest the sun"s invisible rays harm the foetus. and, more prosaically, told police to prepare for potential problems such as road accidents.

In China, the state council warned that reduced visibility and falling temperatures might create panic. It urged scientists to use the media to explain the science behind the phenomenon Internet users posted comments warning it was a "very bad omen" and that criminals might take advantage of the darkness, but others urged them to be more rational. 更多信息请访问：http://www.24en.com/

The last total solar eclipse visible in China took place on Aug. 1 last year. It was observed in northwest China and lasted two minutes in Yiwu County of northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the best place to see the phenomenon.

A total solar eclipse darkens the skies in Chongqing municipality July 22, 2009. A total solar eclipse began its flight on Wednesday across a narrow path of Asia, where it was expected to darken the skies for millions of people for more than six minutes in some places.

A boy uses a welding mask to watch the solar eclipse in Suining, Sichuan province July 22, 2009.

The moon passes between the sun and the earth amid monsoon clouds during a solar eclipse in New Delhi July 22, 2009.

The moon passes between the sun and the earth during a total solar eclipse in the northern Indian city of Varanasi July 22, 2009.

The moon passes between the sun and the earth during a total solar eclipse in the northern Indian city of Varanasi July 22, 2009. The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century began its flight on Wednesday across a narrow path of Asia, where it was expected to darken the skies for millions of people for more than six minutes in some places.

Peoples use special glasses to view a partial solar eclipse in Hong Kong July 22, 2009.

The world"s largest stone Buddha statue is lit up during a total solar eclipse in the city of Leshan, Sichuan province July 22, 2009.

 话说日全食英文：solar eclipse

solar eclipse就是自然奇观“日食”。Solar源于希腊语，指“of，relating to，or proceeding from the sun”（和太阳有关的或从太阳发出的），其相关的表达如：solar calendar（阳历），solar cooker（太阳灶），solar heating system（太阳能加热系统）。

eclipse，由于它指代“天体的部分或全部受其它天体的遮掩而变得晦暗”，我们可以将其引申为“使黯然失色”，用在英语写作或口语表达上会您增色不少。

作名词时，eclipse常和介词in连用，如Tom was in eclipse, exiled to a small post in the East.（Tom失势了，被打发到西部去担任一个小差使。）作动词时，如：She is quite eclipsed by her clever younger sister.（在聪明的妹妹面前，她变得黯然失色。）

另外，如果要强调“日全食”可用total solar eclipse来表达；“日偏食”则是partial solar eclipse。

日全食英文：Total solar eclipse
日食：solar eclipse
日偏食partial solar eclipse
日环食annular solar eclipse

2009年日全食时间：发生时间大致在2009年7月22日上午8时至11时，全食时间最长可达6分39秒；中国全食带内的大中城市全食时间为3－5分钟。

地区：本次全食带比较宽，长度达到1万多公里，宽度250公里，经过我国人口非常密集的长江流域，成都、重庆、武汉、合肥、杭州、上海、南京等40多个城市都能观赏到这次日全食。

影响：覆盖整个长江流域，我国将有3亿人可以看到；全球众多天文爱好者奔赴中国全食带观看。

实习生 谢俊清编辑