|
发表于 2011-8-12 15:19:17
|
显示全部楼层
VOX POPULI: Stargazing at messages from timeless history of universe
Looking at the stars from the top of a mountain is a wonderful experience. Winter is the best time of the year to observe a star-studded sky because the atmosphere is clear, but the downside is that it is often too cold. Mountains in the summer offer a better setting for stargazers to count the stars in comfort and look at them for a long time. Some readers must have fully enjoyed stargazing somewhere in the summer.
I remember the following short passage by Ryokichi Oshima (1899-1928), an accomplished alpinist of the early Showa Era (1926-1989) known for his literary talent: "When we spend a clear night on top of a cold mountain behind a rock on a high ridge, let us show a symbol of human presence to the stars and the Earth with a faint bonfire of haimatsu pine." The writing, which appears in a collection of short passages, is so beautiful that readers can almost feel the cool air of a tall mountain.
The sky is also sending us messages. Every year around this time, the Perseid meteor shower can be seen across the night sky. This year, the shower's peak activity can be observed in Japan between Aug. 12 and the predawn hours of Aug. 14. The meteors glitter without a sound and disappear leaving behind a trail that can be seen with the naked eye. Although this year, the moon is in the way, mountains on a clear night are the best place to observe the showers.
On a related note, what is the average darkness of space? I heard that a joint team of researchers from Nagoya University and the University of Tokyo succeeded in measuring it for the first time. According to the researchers, the average darkness of space is as dark as lighting three candles on the premises of a pitch-black Tokyo Disneyland. It must be close to complete darkness.
The night sky we see from Earth is said to be 1,000 to 10,000 times brighter. This is because of light emitted by the atmosphere itself, sunlight scattered by space dust and the light of our own Milky Way galaxy. In addition, there is a flood of artificial lighting emitting from cities. In the average darkness of space, how would the stars appear to the human eye?
During the Obon holidays, some children must be visiting the countryside to gaze at the night sky, which is different from the sky in the cities, to look for shooting stars. "Among the stars as countless as grains of sand on a beach /One star shines at me" is a tanka poem by Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902). What do you wish upon a star?
--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 11
|
|