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AURORA WATCH: A coronal mass ejection (CME, movie) is heading for Earth. It was hurled into space on April 6th (1325 UT) by an M2-class explosion near sunspot 588. Sky watchers should be alert for auroras when the cloud arrives, probably on April 8th.
Right: Hans Sivenius saw these auroras over Jämsä, Finland, on April 3rd. [gallery]
Earth is already skirting through a solar wind stream flowing from a coronal hole on the sun. Because of this, mild geomagnetic storms and auroras are possible, off and on, for the next few days. The best displays will be at high latitudes--e.g., Canada and Alaska. When the incoming CME arrives, auroras could descend to lower latitudes, too.
SPACE STATION FLYBY: On April 1st, Torsten Edelmann of Landsberg, Germany, photographed a rare and beautiful close encounter ... between Saturn and the ISS:
"This is no April Fool's joke," says Edelmann, who recorded the event using a Celestron C9.25 telescope and a Phillips Toucam digital camera. "The two frames showing the ISS are just 1/15s apart! I processed the image of Saturn separately to enhance the planet's faint moons."
SUNSET RAINBOWS: It was a cold and rainy day in Memphis, Michigan, but just before sunset, "the blazing sun came through, lit up the drizzle, and produced these brilliant rainbows," says photographer William Biscorner. The double 'bows were not only bright, but also remarkably high.
Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley explains: "Close to sunset, rainbows are at their highest in the sky because their center is directly opposite the sun. The lower the sun, the higher the bow. The inner primary bow is produced by light reflected once inside raindrops. Light escaping after two internal reflections forms the outer secondary bow with reversed colors."
"Sunset bows are often reddened," Cowley adds. "When you see them, check the sky towards the sun; most light passes through raindrops without a reflection and can flood the sunward sky with beautiful oranges and reds."
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