纪录片《全球怪象》 第27期：回到过去（在线收听）

So why did the Sun's spots disappear for 50-odd years?

那太阳黑子为什么会消失五十几年呢

To answer that question,

为了回答这个问题

Mike had to go back even further in time,

迈克还得回到更早的时间

back before the beginning of civilisation.

回到文明诞生之前

One of the best places to

若想了解

get that long view of the history of the Sun

太阳的漫长历史 最好的一个地方

is in ice.

就是在冰里

He and his fellow scientists analysed ice cores

他和其他科学家分析冰芯

because they contain a signature

因为其上记录了

of what's been happening to the Sun over thousands of years.

太阳数千年来的活动

We can core into that effectively look back in time.

我们可以取出冰芯有效地追溯到过去

Roughly speaking, there are 20 to 30 grand maxima

大致上 我们可以看到在九千年间

and grand minima in the 9,000 years that we can look at.

有二三十个太阳活动极大和极小期

So what the ice showed

冰芯显示的结果

was something nobody could have predicted.

出乎人们意料

The Sun had a secret rhythm.

太阳有一个秘密的周期