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It sits a million miles away from the Earth
它位于距地球一百万里处的
at the Lagrangian point
拉格朗日点
where the gravitational pull from the Earth and the sun is equal.
此处地球和太阳的引力相等
Fixed in space it has an uninterrupted
这具固定在太空中的卫星可不受任何阻碍地
view of the sun and its tantrums.
观察太阳及其狂暴行为
It has completely transformed our understanding
这完全颠复了我们既有的观念
you can essentially see right from inside the sun,
因为我们可以从太阳内部开始
right through to the coronal mass ejections
一路看到离开太阳的
as they're leaving the sun,
日冕物质抛射
so you're seeing way out to 30 solar radii.
即30倍于太阳半径的距离
Soho has played a key role in understanding
SOHO大大增进了我们
the explosive power of the sun.
对太阳爆炸性威力的了解
By blocking out the discit simulates an eclipse,
它可以遮住日面模拟日蚀现象
revealing the outer atmosphere and
呈现太阳的外气层和
the true scale of the sun's largest eruptions.
大型喷发的真实规模
These are solar flares and coronal mass ejections
这些是喷发自太阳黑子核心的
and they erupt from the heart of sunspots.
太阳闪焰和日冕物质抛射
The temperatures in a solar flare will be tens of
太阳闪焰内的温度高达数千万度
millions of degrees so it's an extremely hot,
所以是温度在短时间内
very dramatic change in temperature over a short period of time.
发生高热、剧烈的改变
When they erupt completely you can get masses
完全喷发时，可以看到
which are roughly the mass of Mount Everest
质量相当于圣母峰的团块
being flung out into the solar system.
被抛射进入太阳系
At solar minimum,flares are infrequent.
在太阳活动极小期间，闪焰并不常见
But every 11 years when the cycle peaks, at solar max,
但每隔11年周期到达顶峰，即太阳活动极大期
the sun puts on the best firework display in the solar system.
太阳会出现太阳系中最壮观的烟火戏码
Solar astronomers are now beginning to
太阳天文学家正逐渐开始
understand the cause of these explosions.
了解这种爆炸事件的起因
They are not caused by the power of fusion.
它们并非肇因于核融合的能量
There is another force at work.
而是另一种力量的运作
It is the force of magnetism.
这种力量就是磁力
The sun is covered in a complex network magnetic fields.
太阳复盖着由磁场组成的复杂网路
A magnetic map shows a familiar patchwork
太阳表面的磁场分布
on the face of the sun.
看来十分眼熟
The areas of the strongest fields coincide exactly
磁场最强的部位
with the position of sunspots.
正好就是太阳黑子的位置
Here the magnetic field strength can be amplified 10,000 times.
磁场的力量在这里可以放大一万倍
It turns out that the regions of the strongest magnetic field
原来太阳磁场最强的区域
on the sun are in the sunspots.
就是太阳黑子
And in the units that we use sunspot magnetic fields
我们测量到的磁场强度
are roughly a thousand,
约为一千
two thousand,maybe three thousand gauss.
两千，或许到三千高斯
But if you look at magnets like the ones I'm playing with here,
但是我手上这个磁铁
the magnetic field in these magnets
的磁场约为一千
is about a thousand to 1500 gauss.
到一千五百高斯
So these have roughly the same
所以磁场强度
magnetic field strength as a sunspot.
和太阳黑子差不多
