V Petek Bo Noč Rdeče Lune in Rdečega Marsa
Friday night will be the night of the Red Moon and Red Mars
Written by Dr Katja Žerjavič, translated by JL Flanner
Ljudje so se nekoč bali luninega mrka, ker niso vedeli, kako je nastal. V njem niso videli prav nič dobrega.
People used to fear lunar eclipses because they did not know how they happened. They did not see anything good in them.
Inki so denimo verjeli, da je Luno pojedel jaguar. Bilo jih je strah, da bo treščil na Zemljo in pojedel še njih. S sulicami so mahali proti nebu in povzročali velik hrup, da bi ga pregnali.
The Inca, for example, believed that the Moon was eaten by a jaguar. There were fears that he would come down to Earth and eat them. They waved their spears at the sky and made a lot of noise to get rid of it.
Danes ta nebesni pojav znamo pojasniti, zato ne zbuja več strahu. Prav nasprotno. Nad njim so navdušeni tako astronomi kot tudi navadni opazovalci.
Today this celestial phenomenon can be explained, so it’s not a cause of fear anymore. On the contrary. Astronomers and ordinary observers are impressed by it.
V petek bodo znova imeli priložnost, da bodo opazovali lunin mrk. Ta bo tokrat prav poseben.
On Frida, they will once more have an opportunity to observe a lunar eclipse. And this will be a special one.
Luna bo mrknila kar za eno uro in 43 minut. Od trenutka, ko se jo bo dotaknila Zemljina senca, do trenutka, ko se bo znova pokazala v polnem sijaju, pa bodo minile skoraj štiri ure.
The moon will eclipsed for as much as one hour and 43 minutes. From the moment that the Earth’s shadow touches it, until it reappears in full, the event will take almost four hours.
V tej noči bodo poravnani tudi Sonce, Zemlja in Mars. Rdeči planet bo skoraj na istem mestu na nebu kot Luna. Ker bo izjemno blizu, bo idete večji in svetlejši kot običajno.
On this night, the Sun, Earth and Mars will also be aligned. The red planet will be in almost the same place in the sky as the Moon. Because it will be extremely close, it will look bigger and brighter than usual.
Lunin mrk je nebesni pojav, ki ga z lahkoto opazujemo. Za to ne potrebujemo teleskopa ali kakšne druge posebne opreme.
A lunar eclipse is a celestial phenomenon that we can easily observe. We do not need a telescope or some other special equipment.
V petek zvečer zato pojdi ven, poglej v nebo in uživaj. Srečni opazovalci neba v Evropi bomo za ogled najdaljšega mrka v tem stoletju dobili sedež v prvi vrsti.
On Friday night, go out, look into the sky and enjoy it. Happy observers of the sky in Europe will get a seat in the first row to see the longest eclipse this century.
Slovarček
Glossary
Inki so bili pripadniki indijanskega plemena, ki je živelo od 13. do 16. stoletja v Južni Ameriki.
The Inca were members of an Indian tribe that lived from the 13th to 16th centuries in South America.
Astronom je znanstvenik, ki se ukvarja z opazovanjem nebesnih teles in razlago pojavov v vesolju.
An astronomer is a scientist who deals with the observation of celestial bodies and the interpretation of phenomena in space.
Lunin mrk se zgodi, ko je Zemlja med Luno in Soncem, zato Luno prekrije senca. Tudi med popolnim mrkom Luna ne potemni povsem, ampak se obarva rdeče.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is between the Moon and Sun, so the Moon is covered with shadow. Moreover, during the period of complete darkness the Moon doesn’t darken completely, but turns red.
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