如夢似幻的大自然燈光秀 —— 極光 Aurora Borealis

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On dark evenings, people near the North Pole can witness an amazing sight. They can look up and see red, green, purple, and yellow lights flashing in the night sky. This colorful light show wasn’t created using technology, though. It’s the Aurora Borealis, a mysterious gift from Mother Nature. 

在漆黑的夜晚裡，北極圈一帶的人可以見證一種壯麗的景觀。他們只消抬頭，就可以看見紅、綠、紫、黃相間的光彩在夜空閃爍。然而這個五顏六色的燈光表演並不是科技的創作結晶。這是來自大自然的神祕禮物 —— 北極光。

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The name Aurora Borealis comes from the ancient world. Aurora was the Roman goddess of the dawn. Boreas was a Greek god who controlled the northern winds.

這個名字起源自遠古世界。是代表黎明的羅馬女神。則是掌控北風的希臘神祇。

In scientific terms, an aurora is a natural phenomenon. It happens when solar wind particles in space crash into gases in Earth’s atmosphere, which results in light energy.

以科學角度來說，極光是一種自然現象。當太空中的太陽風粒子撞上地球大氣層中的氣體時，這種現象就會發生，結果就會產生光能。

The colors produced depend on the atoms in the air. Oxygen atoms create brown and red lights. Nitrogen atoms will make blue or purple lights. If atoms are close to the ground, the lights are often green. 

北極光生成的顏色取決於空氣中的原子。氧原子會造成紅褐色的光。氮原子則會發出藍色或紫色的光。如果這些原子接近地面，則光通常呈現綠色。

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Ancient people had different myths about the Aurora Borealis. Finnish people called the lights “fox fires” because they thought they resembled electric foxes running across the sky. In Greenland, the lights were considered holy. People believed they were the souls of dead children playing in the sky. 

古代人對北極光有不同的神話來解釋。芬蘭人稱它為「狐之火」，因為他們認為北極光與在空中奔馳而過的電光狐狸很類似。在格陵蘭，北極光被認為是一種神聖的存在。人們認為它們是離開人世間的孩童、其靈魂在空中玩鬧嬉戲。

 

接著閱讀

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