双语：2010年12月22日是近400年来最黑暗的一天？

http://www.sina.com.cn   2010年12月22日 16:06   

　　The rare lunar eclipse has fallen on the winter solstice at the Greenwich meridian of December 21, 2010, making the day the "darkest" ever in 372 years。

　　It is well known that winter solstice is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere because the North Pole of the Earth is pointing away from the sun. A total lunar eclipse also occurs when the sun, Earth and moon are almost exactly in line, leaving the full moon appear much dimmer than usual。

　　Interestingly, after this year, people have a long time to wait until we have a December full moon and then a lunar eclipse occur on the same date as the solstice: December 21, 2094! However, the 2094 eclipse will not be visible from the Western Hemisphere, but will be able to be seen from Europe, Africa and much of Asia。

　　Then when was the last time that we had a total lunar eclipse occur on the same date as the winter solstice? The answer is nearly four centuries ago - December 21, 1638.

　　2010年12月21日正午时分(格林尼治时间)，月全食和冬至时间偶遇，于是372年来最“黑暗”的日子就此诞生。

　　众所周知，北半球在冬至这一天白日最短，因为地球北极距离太阳最远。而太阳、地球和月亮又几乎处于一条线上，月全食出现，导致满月比往常晦暗许多。

　　有意思的是，今年过后，要想再看到12月满月、月全食和冬至赶到一起，人们就得等很长一段时间了：2094年12月21日！但是，2094年的月全食在西半球无法观测到，但在欧洲、非洲和亚洲的大部分地球都可以看到。

　　那么上一次人类在冬至时节看到月全食是什么时候呢？答案是近4个世纪以前——1638年12月21日。