今年的元宵节，月亮比平常的满月更大也更亮，也就是常说的“超级月亮”。
A supermoon is coming soon
by Doyle Rice
Whether you call it supermoon, snow moon or full moon, the biggest, brightest moon of the year is coming to a sky near you Tuesday, Feb. 19.
supermoon /ˈsuːpəmuːn/ n. 超级月亮（由moon加上表示超级的前缀super-）
A supermoon occurs when the moon is as close as it ever gets to Earth. On Tuesday, our moon will "only" be about 356,000 kilometers from Earth, which is about 27,000 kilometers closer than average.
occur /əˈkɜː(r)/ v. 发生
The moon's distance from the Earth changes because its orbit isn't a circle. When the moon is closest to Earth, astronomers call it "perigee," said Hanneke Weitering of Space.com. When the full moon coincides with perigee, you've got a supermoon.
orbit /ˈɔːbɪt/ n. 公转的轨道
astronomer /əˈstrɒnəmə(r)/ n. 天文学家
coincide /ˌkəʊɪnˈsaɪd/ v. 同时发生
Bigger and brighter than a typical full moon, the term "supermoon" was coined in 1979 by astrologer Richard Nolle. It's become an increasingly more popular and media-friendly term in the decades since then.
term /tɜːm/ n. 术语、词语
coin /kɔɪn/ v. 创造（新词语）
astrologer /əˈstrɒlədʒə(r)/ n. 占星师
increasingly /ɪnˈkriːsɪŋli/ adv. 越来越（由increase的现在分词加后缀-ly变成副词）
media /ˈmiːdiə/ n. 媒体、新闻媒体
decade /ˈdekeɪd/ n. 十年
The moon's closeness to Earth, naturally, makes it look extra close and extra bright – up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than a full moon at its farthest point from Earth, known as the apogee, NASA said.
closeness /ˈkləʊsnəs/ n. 靠近、接近（由close加后缀-ness变成名词）
naturally /ˈnætʃ(ə)r(ə)li/ adv. 很自然地（由natural加后缀-ly变成副词）
NASA /ˈnæsə/ n. 美国太空总署
Although this supermoon (and full moon) will officially occur Tuesday morning, you don't have to wait for a specific moment to catch all the fun. The moon will appear plenty bright, big and mostly full for the entirety of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights – barring pesky clouds.
officially /əˈfɪʃ(ə)li/ adv. 正式地（由official加后缀-ly变成副词）
specific /spəˈsɪfɪk/ adj. 特定的
mostly /ˈməʊstli/ adv. 在很大程度上、基本上（由most加后缀-ly变成副词）
entirety /ɪnˈtaɪərəti/ n. 全部（由entire加后缀-ty变成名词）
barring /ˈbɑːrɪŋ/ prep. 除非、除了
pesky /ˈpeski/ adj. 烦人的、讨厌的
It's especially big just as it rises above the horizon: This is called the "moon illusion" and it's a way that our brain process objects on the horizon, said Dean Regas, astronomer for the Cincinnati Observatory. "The moon isn't actually bigger, it just looks like it," he said. "This perceived increase in size happens whenever we see the moon, regardless of its phase, near the horizon."
horizon /həˈraɪz(ə)n/ n. 地平线
illusion /ɪˈluːʒ(ə)n/ n. 错觉
process /ˈprəʊses/ v. 处理、应对
object /ˈɒbdʒɪkt/ n. 物体
Cincinnati /ˌsɪnsɪˈnæti/ n. 辛辛那提（美国东北部城市）
observatory /əbˈzɜːvət(ə)ri/ n. 天文台
perceive /pəˈsiːv/ v. 感知
regardless /rɪˈɡɑːdləs/ of 不管、无论
phase /feɪz/ n. 阶段（这里指月相变化的各个阶段）
The supermoon will make the moon seem even bigger. If you miss this month's supermoon, there will be another one on March 21, EarthSky said, but it won't be quite as big or spectacular as this one.
spectacular /spekˈtækjulə(r)/ adj. 壮观的
The full moon this month is also nicknamed the snow moon. For millennia, people across the world, including Native Americans, named the months after nature's cues. According to the Old Farmers' Almanac, full moon names in our part of the world date back to the Native Americans who lived in the northern and eastern U.S. Each full moon has its own name.
nickname /ˈnɪkneɪm/ v. 给予昵称
millennium /mɪˈleniəm/ n. 千年（millennia /mɪˈleniə/ 是复数）
Native American 指美国的原住民（以前称为印第安人）
cue /kjuː/ n. 信号
almanac /ˈɔːlmənæk/ n. 年鉴、黄历
date back 追溯
This month it's the snow moon due to the month's typically heavy snowfalls. Calling February's full moon the snow moon is right on target: On average, February is the USA's snowiest month, according to data from the National Weather Service.
typically /ˈtɪpɪk(ə)li/ adv. 典型地、通常（由typical加后缀-ly变成副词）
snowfall /ˈsnəʊfɔːl/ n. 降雪（由snow和fall组成）
on target /ˈtɑːɡɪt/ 准确的
on average 通常
snowy /ˈsnəʊi/ adj. 多雪的（由snow加后缀-y变成形容词）
（如果您使用的是火狐浏览器，可能会发现某些行的最后一个单词被分成两半了，这是简书系统的Bug，换成Chrome或其他浏览器就能正常显示了。）
网友评论