星期三升起一轮黑月：它是什么?我们能看到它吗?

There’s a black moon on the rise.

黑月在升起。

On Wednesday night, North Americans will get a rare chance to see a “black moon,” which occurs only about every two and a half years, according to Space.com.

据space.com报道，周三晚上，北美洲人将有难得的机会看到“黑月”，这种情况大约每两年半才出现一次。

To be clear, the moon won’t suddenly turn black — not exactly, at least.

需要澄清的是，月亮不会突然变黑——至少不会完全变黑。

So what does a “black moon” mean?

“黑月”是什么意思?

A typical lunar cycle includes one new moon every 30 days or so, when the sun’s light shines from behind the moon, leaving the side of the moon facing our fair planet in the dark — invisible to Earthlings below. But when we get two new moons in the same month, the second is known as a black moon.

一个典型的月球周期是每30天左右有一个新月，这时太阳的光线从月球后面照射过来，使得月球的一侧在黑暗中面对着我们美丽的星球——地球人在下面是看不见的。但是当我们在一个月里有两个新月时，第二个就被称为黑月。

Stargazers will be even more disappointed to find out this month’s black moon will be situated as close to Earth as its orbit allows, qualifying this new moon also as a supermoon. If it were lit, our cosmic neighbor would appear much larger and lower than usual.

如果天文观测者发现这个月的黑月尽可能地靠近地球，也被称为超级月亮，那么他们将会更加失望，因为如果它被照亮，我们的宇宙邻居将会比平常显得更大更低。

On the bright — er, dark side, a new moon also creates the perfect opportunity to catch a flying comet, as meteor showers are more active this time of year. Astronomers say the best time to turn your eyes to the skies will be at 11:13 p.m. EDT, when the new moon officially begins and the heavens are at their darkest.

在这一面明亮一面黑暗的时刻，新月也创造了捕捉彗星的完美机会，因为每年这个时候流星雨更为活跃。天文学家说，将你的眼睛转向天空的最佳时间将是美国东部夏令时11:13，那时新月正式开始，天空是最黑暗的。