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When the sunspots disappeared something on the sun changed
太阳黑子消失时，太阳表面的变化导致
that cooled the Earth down.
地球温度降低
But it wasn't that the solar output changed.
改变的并不是太阳的输出量
No matter how many sunspots there are
不论表面有多少太阳黑子
the sun doesn't get any hotter or brighter.
太阳的热度和亮度都不会改变
So the spots must have another effect.
所以黑子一定还有别的影响
And to see it we need a different way to look at the sun.
想看清这种影响必须以不同方式来观察太阳
It's not just heat and light that that the sun
太阳对地球放射的
is throwing at the Earth.
不只是光和热
As every sunbather knows,there's ultraviolet light too.
热爱日光浴的人都知道，还有紫外线
Enough UV reaches the surface to burn our skin,
抵达地球的紫外线量足以灼伤我们的皮肤
but it is only fraction of the sun's UV output.
但这只占了太阳紫外线输出量的一小部分
The rest is filtered out by the atmosphere.
其他的都被大气层过滤掉了
It means we don't get a complete picture
这表示在地球无法看清
of the sun from the Earth.
太阳的全貌
To see the sun in all its glory you have to go into space.
想要一窥太阳的真面目必须进入太空
From here you can see the changing sun.
在太空才能看清千变万化的太阳
In the extreme UV the sunspots burn a brilliant white.
燃烧的太阳黑子在强烈的紫外线中呈白热状态
In the X-ray frequencies they look even more dramatic.
X光频率下的太阳黑子活动更戏剧化
Huge plumes of superheated gas spout from the spots.
大量的高热气体从太阳黑子喷出
When you're seeing the visible
一般用肉眼观察
you're really seeing the surface of the sun.
只看得到太阳的表面
But when you're seeing the ultraviolet
但是用紫外线或X光观察时
or the x-rays you're actually seeing that very hot atmosphere,
看到的是温度高达一百万度的
and that's about a million degrees,
高热气体
whereas the surface is about six thousand degrees.
而太阳表面的温度约为六千度
So you're seeing a different part of the sun
所以我们观察到的是太阳的不同部位
And you're seeing a part that's constantly changing.
看到的是不断变化的部位
These phenomenal displays of solar power
1970年代天空实验室的太空人
were only discovered in the 1970s,by the astronauts on Skylab.
发现了这种太阳力量的惊人展现
No-one had seen the sun like this before.
从来没有人看过像这样的太阳
Since then a number of Space telescopes have been deployed
之后科学家为了观察太阳
whose sole purpose is to look at the sun.
部署了好几架太空望远镜
The most used is Soho
其中使用最频繁的是简称为SOHO的
the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.
太阳及日光层观测站
