'So bright it was frightening': Dazzling meteor 'fireball' hurtles through the skies above Britain
A meteor 'fireball' shot across the dark skies over Britain last night leaving behind a streak of bright light.
一个火球状的流星发着耀眼的光划过昨晚英国的上空。
Stargazers from across the country reported seeing an 'incredibly bright' light heading from east to west with a green trail in its wake.
全国的天文学家报道看见了一道及其明亮的光拖着绿色的尾巴从东到西划过天空。
So intense was the fireball that it stopped ordinary people going about their daily business dead in their tracks.
人们都很紧张并停止日常工作以免进入这火流星的轨道而被砸到。
One witness in Anglesey said a large ball hurtled past 'with bits coming away from it'.
一个安格尔西岛的目击者称，他看见一个巨大的火球猛冲下了，离天空越来越远。
stations and social networking sites were flooded by members of the public saying they had spotted a 'fireball' in the sky at about 5.40pm yesterday.
无线电台和社交网站上人们议论纷纷，他们在昨天下午5点40分的时候发现了空中的火球。
People from all over Britain - from Somerset to Aberdeen - were left astounded by the bright light, which lasted for about five seconds.
整个英国的人们——从萨默塞特到亚伯丁——都被那在空中持续了5秒钟的亮光所震惊。
Some were even left frightened by the sheer intensity of the display, while many thought they were seeing a rare meteor shower.
有些人纯粹被这光的强度所惊恐，而另一些则认为他们看到了一场罕见的流星雨。
Keith Levitt, 67, from Aberffraw on Anglesey, went outside his house to empty shopping from his car at 5.40pm when he spotted a bright light in the sky.
Keith Levitt，67岁，来自安格尔西岛的Aberffraw城，在5点40分看到了天上的亮光，就在他准备把买到的东西搬回家的时候。
'Initially, I thought it was the light from a plane,' he told the BBC. 'Then I suddenly realised it was a ball with bits coming away from it. I realised it was a meteor.
"一开始，我还以为是飞机发出的光，"他告诉BBC记者"当我突然发现它是球状，而且拖着尾巴，我才发现是一颗流星。"
'It was a large object, I only saw it for two or three seconds. It was going in a low trajectory then petered out into nothing.
"这颗流星很大，我只看到2到3秒的时间，然后它沿着很低的轨道飞过，慢慢消失了。"
'I've never seen anything so large and so close. I've seen shooting stars but this was quite spectacular because it was so large.'
"我到现在还没这么近距离地见过这么大的东西。我以前看过流星，但这次这个这么大，实在是太壮观了。"
Experts today said that despite the appearances, the meteor was probably only the size of a football.
今天专家们说，尽管看起来这么壮观，这颗流星可能只有一个足球的大小。
The piece of space rock would have been travelling at an altitude of 60 to 70 miles.
这颗太空陨石很可能是从60到70英里的高空坠落的。
The green trail left in its wake was the result of it having burst into flames as it made its way through Earth's atmosphere.
流星绿色的尾迹是由于陨石穿越大气层时摩擦燃烧而形成的火焰。
Dr Robert Massey, of the Royal Astronomical Society, said: 'A meteor so widely visible is quite rare.
皇家天文协会的Robert Massey博士说，"一颗流星在这么大范围被看见是很罕见的。"
'Whether anything fell to Earth or not, we won't know for sure until we've seen an image of it.'
'"是否有东西落到地球，我们只有看到其影像才能确定。"
The sightings come just days before the annual Geminid meteor shower, seen here from Tillingham, Essex, in December 1996 The sightings come just days before the annual Geminid meteor shower.
这次的景观在每年一度的双子座流星雨之前的几天发生，要知道上次还有追溯到1996年12月埃塞克斯的Tillingham镇。
The annual cosmic fireworks have been growing in intensity in recent decades with up to 160 meteors visible per hour under optimal conditions.
最近几十年来，在理想状态下每年能见到的宇宙奇观越来越多而且也越来频繁了。
They travel across the sky at about 22miles per second and are fairly easy to spot.
陨石群以每秒22英里的速度穿过天空而且更容易为人们发现。
The Geminids are caused by the Earth crossing the debris-strewn path of the extinct comet 3200 Phaethon.
双子座流星雨是由于地球穿过3200 Phaethon彗星的轨道而造成的。
The first recorded sightings were in 1862 in England and the U.S. In these early days only 14 meteors were recorded per hour.
双子座流星雨的第一次记录是在1862年的英格兰和美国。前期记录中，平均每小时有14颗流星落下。
In September, a pristine meteor crater was discovered on Google Earth in the Egyptian desert.
九月份，人们在谷歌地球上发现了埃及的一个古老的陨石坑。
The Kamil crater, which is 52 feet deep and almost 150 feet wide, is deep within the desert, and was unknown until it was seen on Google Earth.
Kamil 陨石坑，宽约150英尺深52英尺，深埋在沙漠里，直到人们从谷歌地球上发现才得以重见天日。
Caused by a ten-tonne chunk of iron travelling at more than 7,500mph, it is one of the best preserved sites ever found.
它是由于一个将近10吨的铁陨石以7500米每小时的速度撞击而成的，也是目前发现的保存最为完好的陨石坑之一。
Scientists hope its discovery will help determine the risks of further potentially catastrophic impacts.
科学家们希望此次的发现能够帮助人们预防外来天体毁灭性地撞击。
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