Aiming for the Stars 瞄准星星

The script from this programme:

Helen: (Almost whispering) Hello and welcome to On the Town, I'm Helen. And I'm here with Neil.

Neil: (Whispering) Hello.

Neil: (Still whispering) Helen, tell me something… Why are we whispering?

Helen: 啊，你还不知道我为什么说悄悄话？I'll tell you…

Neil: (Whispering) … Yeah and why have you switched off all the lights in the studio? …

(Sound of owl, crickets)

Neil … And, Helen, switch off these sound effects, please! This owl and these crickets are getting on my nerves.

Helen: Oh all right. Sorry, about that. 你觉得我的声响效果惹得你心烦？可是一听到猫头鹰owls和蟋蟀crickets 的叫声，就能让我们联想到郊外宁静的夜晚。你看我把灯关了, so we can imagine we can look up and see the stars, 我们抬头就能看星星了。

Neil: Why do you want to see stars?

Helen: 那是因为在今天的都市掠影里我们一起带大家看爱丁堡的天空。It's said that there are areas where the sky is so clear at night that they are great to see stars. 当地政府鼓励老百姓参与评选看星星的最佳去处，nominate 就是推荐的意思。请听皇家天文台天文学家 Dan Hillier 对这个活动的介绍。

Galloway Forest park in Scotland.

Dan Hillier:

What we are looking for now is to people to look around their local community and to nominate new places that are great for stargazing. They can visit our website, dark sky discovery, to find how to do that there and we really hope with this network of dark sky discovery sites is really going to mushroom.

Helen: This is the Royal Observatory astronomer Dan Hillier. And he used another expression inspired by vegetation.

Neil: Yes, he hopes that the network of good sites to see stars at night is going to mushroom.

Helen: Network 网络，Dan 希望能望星星的地方会越来越多。To mushroom 在这里的意思是形容某事的发展速度像 mushroom 蘑菇生长那样快。

Neil: Stargazing is fun! People in Edinburgh must be enthusiastic about this initiative.

Helen: Yes, they are. 而且当地企业也很支持这个活动。Listen to what Kevin Reid, a hotel owner, said about the so-called dark skies initiative.

Kevin Reid:

I think very much the dark skies initiative is a great initiative for us because it will draw business to the area in what traditionally is the off-season. And that can only be of help to all businesses in the area.

Helen: 酒店老板Kevin Reid 说这个活动会吸引更多的人到这里来看星星。

Neil: Yes, he thinks it will draw business to the area, especially when there are not many people around.

Helen: 淡季 off-season. 平时在旅游淡季的时候这里人很少。不过相信只要能在夜里看到明亮的星星，就算是淡季，也会有游客到这里来， 这样对当地的企业也很有帮助。It will be very good for him. Listen to what this astronomer has to say.

Andromeda Galaxy

Astronomer:

Binoculars are a wonderful way to start because you get a really wide view of everything so you can see whole constellations in them and you can see really simple things like star patterns, double stars, variable stars. But you can even use your naked eye to see things like meteors and the Andromeda galaxy.

Helen: 这位天文学家说望远镜 binoculars 可是必备品。有了它，你可以看到很多东西。 Let's think about ….

Neil: …yes, she said that we can see whole constellations…

Helen: …整个星座 whole constellations …

Neil: …meteors…

Helen: … 流星…

Neil: …and even the Andromeda galaxy!

Helen: Yes, the Andromeda galaxy! 仙女座星系! That's a lot to see!

And many people in Britain are keen to see stars. So much so that the town of Dulverton in Somerset decided to do last week what I did in the studio.

Neil: What was that?

Helen: Dulverton 镇上的居民晚上把灯都关了，这样在看星星的时候就没有光污染了。

Neil: With urban lights on it's difficult to see the stars properly. It's what we call light pollution.

Helen: 光污染 light pollution.

Neil: That's all very inspiring but I am starving. I am going to the canteen to eat something. Aren't you coming with me?

Helen: No, 你先去吧，我想在这儿待一会儿，听听猫头鹰和蟋蟀的叫声。我能想象到constellations, meteors and the Andromeda galaxy.

Neil: You've always had your head in the clouds, Helen! Bye.

Helen: See you!

(Sound of owl, crickets)