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TAURID METEOR SHOWER:
Earth is entering a stream of debris from
periodic Comet 2P/Encke, and this is causing the annual Taurid
meteor shower. The shower has a broad maximum lasting
from Nov. 5th through 12th. At most, only about 5 Taurids
per hour streak across the sky, but what they lack in number
they make up for in dazzle. Taurid meteors tend to be fireballs,
very bright and slow. Look for them falling out of the constellation
Taurus during the hours around midnight. [sky
map]
meteor images: from
John Chumack of Dayton, Ohio
NOT-SO-BLANK SUN:
Today, the sunspot number is zero, which
means the sun is blank, right? Wrong. This morning, NASA's
STEREO-A spacecraft photographed sunspot 1029 seething with
activity over the sun's western horizon:
Photo credit: STEREO Extreme
Ultra Violet Telescope (195 A)
This impressive sunspot, which rotated over the sun's western
limb three days ago, does not add to the sunspot
number because it is no longer visible from Earth. Astronomers
only count spots that are on the Earth-facing side of the
sun. That's how it's been done since Rudolph Wolf invented
the sunspot number in 1848. In those days, only one side of
the sun was visible from Earth, so the tradition was established.
Now, however, for the first time in the history of astronomy,
NASA's twin STEREO
spacecraft are seeing over the sun's horizon, tracking sunspots
that officially "don't count." The two spacecraft
are moving toward opposite sides of the sun, and by February
2011 the
entire sun will be under their watchful eyes. Perhaps
it is time to start thinking about a "whole sun"
sunspot number. As today's image shows, the sun is not always
as blank as it appears to be.
FULL FROSTY MOON:
According to folklore, last night's full
Moon was the "Frosty Moon." Its one of the highest
and brightest full Moons of the year in the northern hemisphere.
In the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Azhy
Chato Hasan photographed the silver orb framed by the
leaves of a moonlit eucalyptus tree:
Elsewhere around the world, the Frosty Moon was framed by
different things: an
ice halo, a
colorful corona, a
bank of eerie clouds. Browse the links below for even
more variety.
more images: from
Jeff Warvel of Carmel, Indiana; from
Mike Holloway of Van Buren, Arkansas; from
Pieter-Jan Dekelver at the National Park Hoge Kempen in
Maasmechelen, Belgium; from
Daisuke Tomiyasu of Ahiya, Hyogo, Japan; from
Louis Suarato of Albany, NY; from
Arman Golestaneh of Boshrouye, Iran
October
Northern Lights Gallery
[previous Octobers: 2008,
2007, 2006,
2004, 2003,
2002, 2001]
Explore
the Sunspot Cycle |
