度假勝地觀星—愜意無比

As the sun sets over the Atacama Desert in Chile each reliably cloudless night, dazzling ruby red and garnet hues paint the volcanic Andes Mountain peaks in the eastern skyline, deepening almost imperceptibly until they are indistinguishable from black. That would be the grand finale at many resort areas. But here, it is merely the opening act.

在每一個晴朗無雲的夜晚，當太陽從智利的阿塔卡馬沙漠落下時，東方天際的安第斯火山的頂峯籠罩着一片耀眼的紅色，這種寶石紅與石榴紅調和而成的色彩幾乎在不知不覺中加深，直到與夜黑融爲一體。對於許多度假勝地來說，這將意味着一天的完美結束，而在這裏，僅僅是開場表演。

After the nearest star had set one evening last August, I peered through the Meade 16-inch telescope in the 15-foot observatory of the Hotel de Larache in San Pedro de Atacama to see the main attraction: the Alpha Centauri stars that, without the benefit of magnification, look like one; the misty, yellow Swan Nebula; and the Scorpio Constellation's bi-winged Butterfly Cluster.

去年八月，當最亮的那顆星星掛上天幕時，我正站在聖佩德羅阿塔卡馬的拉臘什酒店那15英尺高的望臺上，用16英寸長的米德望遠鏡欣賞夜空最具吸引力的半人馬座阿爾法星羣（如果沒有被望遠鏡放大的話，它看起來就像只有一顆星星）和朦朧的黃色天鵝星雲以及天蠍座的雙翼蝴蝶星羣景象。

This remote desert, roughly 800 miles north of Santiago, offers some of the clearest views of the Milky Way in the world, making it a natural home to a cluster of high-tech research observatories used by international astronomers. The resorts at Atacama are no outliers. Stargazing has increasingly become an alternative to traditional after-sundown dining and drinking at hotels and resorts. Call it night life for nerds.

在這個距離智利首都聖地亞哥以北約800英里的偏遠沙漠，人們可以看到一些世界上最爲清晰的銀河景觀，於是這裏便成了望臺的聚集地，國際天文學家通過這些高科技研究型望臺來研究夜空。阿塔卡馬的這些度假勝地也不例外。以前每當日落後，人們在酒店和度假勝地吃飯飲酒消遣，而現在，觀星已逐漸成了另一種選擇。觀星就是書呆子們的夜生活。

For people who live in the cities, the only way to see the stars in safety and in comfort without worrying about what might happen in the dark is at a resort," said Rick Fienberg, a spokesman for the American Astronomical Society, based in Washington.

美國天文學會（總部設於華盛頓）發言人裏克·弗因伯格說："現在，對於住在城市的人來說，要安全舒適地觀星而不必擔心黑夜裏會發生什麼，就只能在度假勝地觀星了。"

I first encountered stargazing tourism several years ago at the Maui Resort and Spa in Hawaii, a 40-acre resort with sweeping views of Kaanapali Beach. Instead of drinking mai tais at the bar or attending a luau, I joined Eddie Mahoney, an astronomer, who led our group of 12 to the roof of the hotel's nine-story main building. The relatively high perch and resort lighting-designed to angle down rather than shine up-preserved the dark setting for his three 50-minute nightly public stargazing sessions ($25 a person).

幾年前，我在夏威夷的毛伊島水療度假村首次接觸到"觀星遊"這一概念，在這個40英畝的度假勝地上，卡亞納帕裏海灘的風光可以盡收眼底。我沒有在酒吧喝邁代雞尾酒，也沒去參加夏威夷烤豬派對，而是跟隨天文學家埃迪·馬奧尼帶領的12人小組去高達九層的酒店主樓樓頂觀星。較高的位置和度假村的照明（該設計使燈光向下投射而非向天上散射）使黑夜的環境得以保存，從而使埃迪·馬奧尼主持的三場夜間公開觀星活動得以順利進行，每場活動持續50分鐘，費用爲每人25美元。

Mr. Mahoney oriented us by pointing out the North Star, the Big and Little Dippers and the constellation Orion, all visible to the naked eye, of course. But what appeared to be a fuzzy cluster in the sky became clear with binoculars: they were the seven stars in the Pleiades Group. And moving to the 16-inch reflector telescope, far-off planets come into the sharp focus you see in Hubble Space Telescope images: Saturn and its rings, as well as a quartet of Jupiter's moons precisely lined up beside it.

馬奧尼先生引導着我們，爲我們指出北極星、北斗七星、小熊星座和獵戶座，當然，這些星座都是我們肉眼可以看見的。但通過雙筒望遠鏡，這些在肉眼下看似模糊不清的團狀物變得清晰起來：他們是昴宿星羣的七顆星星。當我們移步至16英寸的反射式望遠鏡時，映入眼簾的是以哈勃太空望遠鏡圖像呈現的遙遠行星：土星及其光環，以及排列在木星旁邊的四顆衛星。

Newly in possession of a 14-inch computerized telescope, Mr. Mahoney still leads stargazing sessions, which he started 10 years ago. Some 6,000 gazers a year take his sky tour, according to the resort management. "I remind them that Earth is a starship, and we are just passing through," said Mr. Mahoney, who distributes Starburst or Milky Way candies after the show.

馬奧尼先生最近擁有了一臺14英寸電腦控制望遠鏡，他依然繼續着自己10年前就開始從事的觀星嚮導的工作。度假村管理部門稱，每年有6000人蔘加馬奧尼先生的"星空之旅"。"我提醒他們，地球是一艘星際飛船，我們只是匆匆過客，"馬奧尼先生說。觀星活動結束後，馬奧尼先生爲大家分發"星爆"牌或銀河牌糖果。

That sense of floating through the galaxy is underscored in the western United States, where low population density and favorable weather combine to make for particularly starry skies. Near Scottsdale, Arizona, the Boulders Resort abjures the science of astronomy in favor of the lore of astrology in its "Dining With the Stars" dinners held three times each year, on the summer solstice and the spring and fall equinox dates.

人口稀疏加上天氣條件得天獨厚，造就了美國西部別樣的星空。在這裏，人們最能體會到那種漂浮於星際之中的感覺。伯德斯度假村臨近亞利桑那州的斯科茨代爾市，這裏的人們分別在夏至、春分和秋分時舉行三次"與星星共餐"的活動，意在顯示這裏的人們不愛天文科學，愛占星學。

I had a chance to stargaze out west firsthand this spring during a visit to Colorado. After a day of white water kayaking I took part in a decidedly low-tech session at the new Viceroy Snowmass, an opulent 173-room resort on the Snowmass ski slopes near Aspen. Instead of using an observatory or even a telescope, guests sat around a bonfire on the pool deck, faces facing heavenward as the leader, Marieta Bialek, pointed out constellations and planets visible above the mountains.

今年春天去科羅拉多州參觀期間，我獲得了一次在西部戶外觀星的機會。經過一天的皮艇漂流後，我在新總督斯諾馬斯參加了一個顯然是科技含量不高的觀星活動。新總督斯諾馬斯是一個有着173間客房的豪華度假村，靠近阿斯彭附近的斯諾馬斯滑雪場。在這裏觀星，人們不使用望臺或者望遠鏡，而是圍坐在游泳池邊的篝火旁，面朝夜空，領隊瑪麗塔·巴雷克會向衆人指出山脈上空肉眼可見的星座和行星。

With the planet Venus shining in the west, the overall order of the night sky emerged as the evening progressed. Taking in the panoramic view of the sky was more meditative than scientific, but rewarding nonetheless, especially when a shooting star streaked by.

當金星在西方天空閃耀時，夜空的總體秩序隨着夜幕的來臨而變得清晰。縱觀整個夜空與其說是科學觀測，倒不如說只是一種哲學靜思，但即使這樣也是值得的，尤其是當流星劃過天際時。

"There's a mystery and wonder about it," said Ms. Bialek, leaning back in her chair to point out the constellation Cassiopeia. "Many people find comfort in the stars. As things are changing around them, the stars stay steady."

巴雷克女士靠在椅子上指着仙后座說："它挺神祕的，富有傳奇色彩，許多人覺得在星星那裏能找到安慰。因爲周圍的事物在變化，而星星卻穩定不變。"

That steadiness was evident in the Atacama region of Chile, where there is little night life to compete with the twinkling sky after dark. Nearby resorts that feature stargazing include Tierra Atacama, a stone's throw from Hotel de Larache, and Alto Atacama lodge, which offers guided stargazing nightly, except during full moon phases that wash out the viewing.

這種穩定性在智利的阿塔卡馬地區是顯而易見的，在那裏，天黑後能與星光閃閃的夜空相媲美的夜生活不多。附近以觀星爲特色的度假村包括離拉臘什酒店一箭之遙的阿塔卡馬高地和阿塔卡馬女低音旅店，後者爲夜間觀星提供指導，但出現滿月時除外，因爲月明星稀，無法觀賞到理想景觀。

Stargazing at Hotel de Larache is no mere add-on. On my tour there, several gazers took along Pisco sours from the bar to the fireside orientation involving charts and diagrams before navigating paths to the observatory marked in dim red to minimize light pollution. Inside, the dome opened and swiveled under the computerized direction of the scope as it lined up stars and constellations, which the six of us took turns viewing over the next hour, murmuring oohs and aahs normally associated with fireworks and giving us plenty to marvel at over dinner after the show.

在拉臘什酒店觀星不只是一個餘興節目。我在那裏旅行期間，幾個觀星者在出發去望臺之前，帶着酒吧裏的皮斯科白蘭地，在火爐邊聽包括許多圖標和圖表的指導性介紹。爲了使燈光污染降到最小，望臺只有微弱的紅光加以標示。望臺內，當由電腦控制的方向範圍對準星星和星座時，圓屋頂打開並旋轉。我們六個人在接下來的一個小時裏輪流觀看這些星星和星座，發出平時只在看煙花匯演時才發出的