时差N小时 如何制作陨石坑?(下)

（单词翻译）

Now have a young person drop rocks onto the moonscape.

现在，让一位年轻人往“月球表面”上扔石头。

When it hits, the energy of the falling rock is transferred to the powdery surface, and voila! Impact crater¹.

当石头撞击表面时，石头下落的势能会在粉状表面转化成撞击力，瞧！陨石坑出现了。

Instead of just doing it at random², though, have your young person drop one rock from a height of two feet, another from four feet, and another from six feet.

不要随意地投掷石头，先从两英尺的高度往下扔，然后再从四英尺的高度扔，最后从六英尺的高度再扔一次。

You’ll find that the craters³ change shape depending on the energy of the incoming meteorite⁴.

你会发现，陨石坑的形状会随着陨石的势能而改变。

Higher-energy impacts make wider craters, with debris⁵ shooting out from their centers in what are called “rays.”

能量越大，形成的陨石坑就越大，陨石坑中心受到撞击后碎片如射线般四处飞溅。

Smaller ones look like little volcanoes. Throwing a stone at an angle makes an oblong crater.

较小的陨石坑看起来像小火山。以倾斜的角度扔石头会形成椭圆形的陨石坑。

Afterward⁶, take a look at the moon again through binoculars⁷ when it rises.

以后等月亮升起时，再用望远镜仔细观察。

You may have a better sense of what all those pock-marks really are!

你可能就会对月球上的这些“凹坑”有更深刻的认识了。