Full-moon arrives two days late for this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋月今年不圓 天文館：真正月圓要晚兩天

TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字 
1.Mid-Autumn Festival n. 中秋節 
 2.full moon n. 月圓、滿月 
3.moon cake n. 月餅 
4.telescope n. 望遠鏡 

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival — a day traditionally celebrated by family reunion, enjoying the full moon and eating moon cakes. However, the Taipei Astronomical Museum (TAM) has pointed out that the moon on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival this year is not really a full moon; the actual full moon will in fact occur two days later on Friday Oct. 6 (Aug. 17 in the lunar calendar) at 2:40am in the morning. As such, the moon that we will see this mid-autumn evening is not a true full moon: Around 2 percent of the moon will be hidden in the dark and not visible. 今天是中秋節，也是全家團圓在一起賞月、吃月餅的日子。但台北市立天文科學教育館指出，今年中秋節不是滿月的日子，真正的月圓時間是在六日（農曆八月十七日），即本週五的凌晨二時四十分，在日期上晚了兩天。因此我們今年中秋夜見到的月亮並不圓，整個月面還有約百分之二仍隱在黑暗中不可見。

The TAM also invites the public to take part in a Mid-Autumn Festival special event that will take place between 7pm and 9pm and will include five activity areas and 22 astronomical telescopes for the public to photograph and enjoy the moon. 天文館也表示，今天晚間七時至九時將舉辦中秋特別活動，共有五大活動區、二十二部天文望遠鏡邀民眾一同拍月、賞月。

There is also an exhibition called “Take me to the moon” on display in the museum’s first floor lobby which will stay open through to Dec. 24. The exhibition includes a brief introduction to the moon, a history of human exploration of the moon, as well as educational games such as the popular “lunar sea fantasy” game and full-moon puzzles for children and adults to explore and enjoy. 天文館即日起至十二月二十四日，也在一樓大廳舉辦「帶我去月球展」，包括月球簡介、人類探索月球計劃，以及小朋友喜愛的月海想像與滿月拼圖小遊戲等，歡迎大小朋友參觀。 （中央社）

 (CNA, translated by Lin Lee-kai) 

DID YOU KNOW? 你知道嗎？ 
As the matter of fact, the chances of having full moon on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival are not very high. In the 45-year period starting from 1986 and ending in 2030, there will be only 15 instances of a full moon on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival — the odds are only one-in-three. The last time there was a full moon on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival was Sept. 19, 2013 and the next time will be on Sept. 21, 2021. 中秋節當天是滿月的機率其實並沒有非常高。從一九八六年到二○三○年的四十五年期間，將有十五次中秋適逢滿月，其占比不過是三分之一左右而已。上一次的中秋滿月是二○一三年九月十九日，而下一次的中秋滿月將是二○二一年九月二十一日。 

Music 音樂: Harvest Moon 牧場物語 by Neil Young 尼爾·楊

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Full Moon Salutations 滿月瑜珈

Yes, you can blame the moon for a bad night’s sleep是的　都是月亮惹禍害你睡不好

TODAY’S WORDS

今日單字

1. tossing and turning idiom 輾轉反側

例: She was tossing and turning all night. (她整夜輾轉反側。)

2. doze off v. phr. 打瞌睡 

例: He dozed off in the armchair.  (他在扶手椅上打盹。)

3. anecdotal adj. 趣聞軼事般的

例: Gray’s book is anecdotal and entertaining. (格雷的書充滿奇聞，很有娛樂性。)

If you were tossing and turning at your pillow, you are not necessarily going crazy. The full moon might be to blame for your poor sleep.

In the days close to a full moon, people take longer to doze off, sleep less deeply, and sleep for a shorter time, even if the moon is not shining in their window, a new study has found.

Anecdotal evidence has long suggested that people’s sleep patterns, moods, and even aggression, is linked to moon cycles.

Between 2000 and 2003, biologist Christian Cajochen of the University of Basel in Switzerland and his colleagues collected detailed data on the sleep patterns of 33 healthy volunteers.

Using electroencephalograms (EEG), which measure brain activity, they recorded how deep and how long each participant’s nightly sleep was in a controlled, laboratory setting. They found a striking association between poor sleep and lunar cycles.

(Liberty Times)

若你在枕頭上輾轉反側，你應該不是發瘋了。你的失眠恐怕得歸咎於滿月。

在即將滿月的數日，即使月光沒有照進窗裡，人們要花更久的時間才能入睡、更少熟睡，而且睡眠時間更短，一份新研究發現。

有些奇聞軼事曾提到人們的睡眠模式、情緒甚至侵略性與月亮週期相關。

二０００年到二００三年間，瑞士巴塞爾大學的生物學家克里斯提安‧卡約翰與研究團隊，蒐集三十三名健康志願者睡眠模式的詳細資料。

藉由腦電波測量大腦活動，他們經由實驗室的控制儀器記錄到，每個參與者的夜間睡眠有多深、有多久。他們發現失眠與月亮週期有驚人的關聯。

（自由時報／翻譯：詹立群）

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