关于流星的15个小秘密

1.The most famous and spectacular meteor shower, the annual Perseids, will peak on August 12th.

一年一度的英仙座流星雨是最著名、最壮观的流星雨，一般在8月12日达到高峰。

2.The Perseids are also called the "Tears of Saint Lawrence" after a martyred Christian deacon whom the Romans burned to death on an outdoor iron stove in A.D. 258.

英仙座流星雨也被称作“圣劳伦斯之泪”。这个称呼来源于公元前258年被罗马人烧死在大铁炉里的基督教殉道者圣劳伦斯。

3.Technically, a meteor is merely the streak of light we see trailing a meteoroid. A meteoroid is any interplanetary object bigger than a speck of dust and smaller than an asteroid.

严格说来，“流星”仅仅指“流星体”身后的那一道光，也就是我们看着划过天空那一道。而“流星体”则可以是太阳系内任意一个比尘埃大但比小行星小的天体。

4.Once it hits Earth, a meteoroid suffers an identity crisis and becomes a meteorite.

流星体一旦撞上地球，就变成了“陨石”。

5.Chase that, Superman: Perseid meteoroids enter the atmosphere at approximately 130,000 miles per hour.

英仙座流星雨的流星体进入大气层的速度约为130,000英里/时（209,215公里/时）。

6.Meteorites contain the oldest known rocks in the solar system, as well as minerals that formed around other stars perhaps billions of years before our solar system was born.

流星体中含有太阳系中已知的最古老的岩石，以及在太阳系诞生的几十亿年前在其他恒星周围形成的矿物。

7.Each day, up to 4 billion meteoroids fall to Earth.

每天落到地球上的流星体约有40亿个。

8.Don't worry. Most of them are minuscule in size.

但是不用担心，它们中的绝大多数体积都非常小。

9.Meteorite impacts have been blamed for hundreds of injuries, but only one has been verified by scientists. In 1954, Annie Hodges of Sylacauga, Alabama, was struck by an eight-pound meteorite that crashed though her roof and bounced off a radio into her hip while she was napping.

许多人都声称曾被落下来的陨石砸伤，但真正被科学家证实的陨石伤人事件只有一起。1954年，美国亚拉巴马州的Annie Hodges被一颗8磅重（约3.6千克）的陨石砸中：这颗陨石击穿了她的屋顶，砸中了一台收音机，并反弹起来击中了正在打盹的Annie的屁股。

10.A study published in 1985 in the journal Nature calculated the rate of impacts to humans as .0055 per year, or one event every 180 years.

1985年发表在《自然》杂志上的一份研究称，陨石伤人的比例约为每年0.0055人，或者说每180年1人。

11.If you find a meteorite, the Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society demands that you donate 20 percent or 20 grams, whichever is smaller, to a laboratory for future research. You can sell the rest.

如果你找到了一块陨石，国际陨石协会命名委员会将要求你捐献它的20%或者20克（看哪个更小）给研究所以备研究。剩下的部分你就可以拿去卖钱了。

12.Unless you found it in South Africa, where all meteorites are protected under the National Heritage Law and must be surrendered to the nearest authorities.

除非你是在南非找到它的——在南非，所有陨石都受到国家遗产法的保护，必须上交到就近的政府机构。

13.Of the more than 24,000 meteorites known to have landed on Earth, only 34 are thought to have originated on Mars. Most of these have been found in Antarctica and North Africa because they are easy to spot on sand dunes and ice.

在已知的落到地球上的2万4千多颗陨石中，据推测只有34%来自火星，它们大多是在南极或北非被发现的，因为落在冰面或沙丘上的陨石比较显眼。

14.Martian meteorites can sell for $500 a gram. Space rocks fetch just $2 a gram.

火星陨石可以卖到500美元/克，其他陨石则只能卖2美元/克。

15.To buy one, try eBay, which often lists more than 1,000 meteorites for auction.

想买陨石，可以上eBay，那里待售的陨石常常超过1000颗。