Space Weather News for Aug 12, 2011
METEOR SHOWER: The Perseid meteor shower is underway. International observers are now reporting more than 20 meteors per hour as Earth passes through a stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on the night of Aug 12-13. The best time to look is during the hours before dawn on Saturday morning, August 13th, when the
How cosmically cool is this, right? Space Weather News for June 2, 2011ECLIPSE OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN: A solar eclipse at midnight? It’s not only possible, it actually happened last night. On June 1st, the new Moon passed in front of the midnight sun above the Arctic circle, producing a partial eclipse of exquisite beauty. Images of the event are featured on today’s edition of SpaceWeather.com.
A spinning space rock for Tax Day 2011! Well, sort of Tax Day since today is a holiday in the District of Columbia. Therefore, taxes are due by midnight on Monday April 18, 2011. Meanwhile, over our noggins, train your telescope on the "strobe light" twirling above!Space Weather News for April 15, 2011SPINNING ASTEROID FLYBY: A 50-meter asteroid is flying past the Earth-Moon system on April 15th.
Space Weather News for April 1, 2011SPACE PLANE FLARES: The US Air Force X-37B space plane is circling Earth on a classified mission. Although its orbit is officially unpublished, amateur sky watchers have spotted it and are monitoring its progress. This week, a veteran observer witnessed a spectacular flare from the X-37B, exceeding the brightness of Venus. Details may be found on today’s
Space Weather News for March 10, 2011X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE: March 9th ended with a powerful solar flare. Less than an hour before midnight (UT), Earth-orbiting satellites detected an X1.5-class explosion from behemoth sunspot 1166. First-look data suggest that the blast did hurl some material toward Earth. Check SpaceWeather News for movies of the flare and updates on its possible effects. SOLAR
Social propagandists often run concepts and bad ideas up the proverbial public flagpole to see if anyone salutes, to undermine our traditional social fabric of decency, and/or simply to get us accustomed to certain ideas prior to implementing them (or some version thereof.)The eeriness of HAL (the computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey) is a good example of our collectively shared feelings of
As Above, So Below…eruptions are flaring up all over the place, including space:Space Weather News for Feb 15, 2011MAJOR FLARE: Earth-orbiting satellites have detected the strongest solar flare in more than four years. At 0156 UT on Feb 15th, giant sunspot 1158 unleashed an X2-class eruption. X-flares are the strongest type of x-ray flare, and this is the first such eruption of new Solar Cycle
This year, the most unusual gift I received for my birthday is this morning’s Solar Eclipse!Space Weather News for Jan 4, 2011FANTASTIC SOLAR ECLIPSE: When the sun rose over Europe this morning, a piece of it was missing. The Moon had covered as much as 86% of the solar disk, producing a partial solar eclipse and a fantastic crescent-shaped sunrise. The most amazing apparition, however, may have
Space Weather News for Jan 3, 2011QUADRANTID METEOR SHOWER: Sky watchers in the northen hemisphere should be alert for meteors before sunrise on Tuesday, Jan. 4th. Earth is about to pass through a narrow stream of debris from shattered comet 2003 EH1, the parent of the annual Quadrantid meteor shower. Forecasters say the encounter could produce a fast flurry of 100 meteors per hour during the
Zeeks! With America’s Saturn Return 14Lib48 well underway into 2011, the planet of accountability, responsibility, authority, stability, and restriction is experiencing a time of unstable weather. Sound familiar?Space Weather News for Dec 28, 2010BIG STORM ON SATURN: Got a telescope for Christmas? Point it at Saturn. A giant storm even brighter than Saturn’s rings is raging through the planet’s