标签 芝加哥 下的文章

日落时的悬日现象，美国芝加哥 Chicagohenge sunset, Chicago, Illinois (© Razvan Sera/Amazing Aerial Agency)

城市网格传递了这一天象 The city grid delivers this celestial phenomenon

Chicagohenge

During the fall and spring equinox, the celestial phenomenon known as Chicagohenge occurs when the sun rises or sets directly between the buildings lining Chicago's west- and east-facing streets. The city's almost perfectly aligned grid is responsible for the event.

During the equinox, the northern and southern hemispheres receive an equal amount of sunlight, and the sun rises and sets directly to the east and west. As it happens, Chicago's grid is aligned with the cardinal directions on a compass, a handy fact to know anytime you're walking in the city.

It might be easy to lose touch with the natural cycles of the planet when you live in a concrete jungle, but at least twice a year, Chicagohenge reminds city dwellers exactly where this third rock from the sun is spinning.

芝加哥城

在秋分和春分期间，当太阳在芝加哥西面和东面街道两旁的建筑之间直接升起或落下时，就会出现被称为芝加哥柱的天象。这座城市几乎完全对齐的网格是这次活动的主因。

在春分期间，南北半球接收等量的阳光，太阳从东到西直接升起和落下。碰巧的是，芝加哥的网格与指南针上的基本方向对齐，这是一个方便的事实，你在城市中行走的任何时候都可以知道。

当你生活在混凝土丛林中时，可能很容易与地球的自然循环失去联系，但芝加哥恒河每年至少两次提醒城市居民，太阳的第三块岩石正在旋转的确切位置。

密歇根湖畔的阿德勒天文馆， 芝加哥伊利诺伊州 Adler Planetarium near Lake Michigan, Chicago, Illinois (© Amazing Aerial Agency/Offset by Shutterstock)

America's oldest planetarium

When it first flicked on the projector lights in 1930, the Adler Planetarium in Chicago was the only one in the Western Hemisphere. At the time, planetariums themselves were only a 7-year-old invention imported from German lens grinders. But the American public's fascination with stars and distant worlds, it turned out, was skyrocketing. By 1934, the Adler had welcomed over a million visitors.

And though our love for space endures, these days in Chicagoland it's tough to catch a clear night sky past all those wonderful bright lights of the Windy City. That helps explain why the Adler still pulls half a million visitors in a typical year, with three state-of-the-art auditoriums and even a massive telescope that lets visitors view far-off galaxies.

美国最古老的天文馆

1930年，芝加哥的阿德勒天文馆（Adler Planetarium）第一次打开投影仪的灯光时，是西半球唯一的天文馆。当时，天文馆本身只是从德国镜头研磨机进口的一项7年发明。但事实证明，美国公众对星星和遥远世界的迷恋正在飙升。到1934年，阿德勒号已经接待了超过一百万的游客。

尽管我们对太空的热爱永存，但如今在芝加哥，要想在这座多风的城市里捕捉到一片晴朗的夜空是很困难的。这有助于解释为什么阿德勒号在一个典型的年份里仍然吸引了50万游客，有三个最先进的礼堂，甚至还有一个巨大的望远镜，可以让游客观看遥远的星系。

Sailors begin their journey from Chicago to Mackinac Island, Michigan during the Race to Mackinac © Karen I. Hirsch/Alamy

Batten down the hatches

The athletes on these boats are jockeying for position at the start of the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac (pronounced ‘Mack-i-naw'). The ‘Mac,' at 333 miles long, is the world's oldest and longest annual freshwater boat race. It's an amateur event, but make no mistake, these sailors know their stuff. Many go on to race in the America's Cup. This year's race is held today, and the boats set sail, smallest to largest, just off Chicago's Navy Pier passing by the city skyline as we see in our image. When crews pass under the span of the mighty Mackinac Bridge—connecting the Lower Peninsula to the Upper Peninsula—Lake Michigan becomes Lake Huron, and the island appears.

The official finish line is Mackinac Island's Yacht Club, but many say the race ends at the Pink Pony Patio Bar, where an armada of sailors gather to boast and toast each other. It's about then that locals prepare for the merrymaking by locking up their bikes. On Mackinac Island, bicycles are a hot commodity because motorized vehicles are outlawed (even police pedal around). The few motorized vehicles on Mackinac are for emergency use, such as ambulances and firetrucks.