12月的夜空有什么“美景”

12月的夜空有什么“美景”

Santa's sleigh isn't even packed yet, but the December sky already has a few celestial gifts at the ready to close out 2019. So warm up your gloves by the fire, heat up the hot chocolate, and bundle up for a month of spectacular meteor showers, stargazing, special space deliveries and the winter solstice.

圣诞老人的雪橇还没装好，但12月的天空已经准备好了一些天上的礼物，准备在2019年结束。所以，把你的手套放在火边暖一暖，把热巧克力热一热，把自己包裹起来，享受一个月的壮观流星雨、观星、太空快递和冬至景象。

You'll need to bundle up to see the night sky in Slovenia's Pokljuka forest. (Photo: Dreamy Pixel [CC by 4.0]/Wikimedia Commons)

Russia makes a special delivery (Dec 1.)

俄罗斯的特殊快递(12月1日)

Russia's unmanned Progress cargo spacecraft is used to deliver supplies to the International Space Station. (Photo: NASA [public domain]/Wikimedia Commons)

A Russian Soyuz rocket will launch the 74th Progress cargo delivery spacecraft to the International Space Station around 6:29 a.m. EST. The Progress MS-13 will be launched atop a Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. This is only the fourth time Russia's Roscosmos space agency has attempted such a speedy delivery; what used to take two days of traveling has been cut down to just 3.5 hours, similar to their last delivery in July.

俄罗斯联盟号火箭将于美国东部时间6点29分左右向国际空间站发射第74艘进步号货运飞船，进步号MS-13将由联盟号2.1 A运载火箭从哈萨克斯坦拜科努尔航天发射场发射。这是俄罗斯宇航局第四次尝试如此快速的发射;过去需要两天旅行的时间被缩短到只有3.5小时，与7月份的上一次运送时间差不多。

Bask in the glow of the full Cold Moon (Dec. 12)

沐浴在满月的冷光中(12月12日)

Moonrise over Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge in Wyoming. (Photo: Tom Koerner/USFWS [public domain]/Wikimedia Commons)

While the Old Farmer's Almanac referred to December's big lunar event as the Cold Full Moon, native people of North America also referred to it as the Big Spirit Moon, Blue Moon and the Snow Moon. In New Zealand, where summer will soon be underway, this lunar season is described as "birds are now sitting in their nests."

《旧农历年鉴》把12月的大月亮事件称为寒冷的满月，而北美土著人也把它称为“大精灵月”、“蓝月亮”和“雪月”。在夏天即将来临的新西兰，这个农历的季节被描述为“鸟儿们正坐在它们的巢里。”

Gaze upon the mysterious Geminids meteor shower (Dec. 13-14)

凝视神秘的双子座流星雨(12月13-14日)

The Geminid meteors put on a good show — if you're willing to brave the cold. (Photo: Asim Patel [CC by SA 3.0]/Wikimedia Commons)

One of the most prolific meteor showers of the year, with 120 to 160 shooting stars per hour, the Geminids are also one of the most scientifically perplexing. Whereas most meteor showers come from periodic comets shedding debris as they pass around the sun, the Geminids are apparently tied to an asteroid named 3200 Phaethon.

双子座流星雨是一年中最多产的流星雨之一，每小时有120到160颗流星。双子座流星雨也是最令人费解的科学现象之一。大多数流星雨是由周期性的彗星在环绕太阳时留下的碎片形成的，而双子座流星雨显然与一颗名为3200法厄同的小行星有关。

SpaceX takes off (Dec. 15)

SpaceX升空(12月15日)

The Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg AFB SLC-4E with the CASSIOPE satellite in 2013. (Photo: SpaceX [public domain]/Wikimedia Commons)

Delayed from Nov. 11, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the JCSAT 18/Kacific 1 communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The satellite is jointly owned by SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation of Japan and Kacific Broadband Satellites of Singapore, and will provide mobile and broadband services across the Asia-Pacific region.

从11月11日开始，猎鹰9号火箭将在佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角空军基地发射JCSAT 18/Kacific 1号通信卫星。该卫星由日本SKY Perfect JSAT公司和新加坡Kacific宽带卫星公司共同拥有，将在亚太地区提供移动和宽带服务。

Celebrate the winter solstice (Dec. 21)

庆祝冬至(12月21日)

A hiker in Iceland observing the winter solstice in December 2014. (Photo: Hafsteinn Robertsson [CC by 2.0]/Flickr)

The winter solstice, that brief moment when the sun is exactly over the Tropic of Capricorn, will take place on Dec. 21 at 11:19 p.m. EST.

冬至是太阳正好越过南回归线的短暂时刻，将在美国东部时间12月21日晚上11点19分开始。

Catch the Ursids meteor shower (Dec. 21-22)

看小熊座流星雨(12月21-22日)

A shooting star captured over Amphitrite Point Lighthouse in Ucluelet, British Columbia. (Photo: Freebilly Photography/Shutterstock)

While the Ursids have a tough act to follow after the spectacular Geminids, this annual meteor shower is still capable of throwing down up to 10 shooting stars per hour. This year, "we're not expecting an outburst," Cooke told Space.com. "But the Ursids have surprised us before."

尽管小熊座流星雨很难追上壮观的双子座流星雨，但每年的流星雨仍能以每小时10颗的速度落下。今年，库克告诉Space.com网站:“我们预计不会爆发。可是小熊座流星雨家的人以前曾使我们大吃一惊。”

Originating from debris shed by Comet 8P/Tuttle, the Ursids appear to stream from the constellation Ursa Minor. Bundle up, get comfortable, and gaze up on the evening of the 21st or 22nd to catch the peak of this holiday shower.

小熊座流星雨起源于8P/Tuttle彗星的碎片，似乎来自于小熊星座。穿上你的衣服，舒服一点，在21日或22日的晚上抬头看一看，就能赶上这个假日流星雨的高峰期。