When is the best time to see auroras? Where is the best place to go? And how do you photograph them? These questions and more are answered in a new book, Northern Lights - a Guide, by Pal Brekke & Fredrik Broms. | | |
INCREASING CHANCE OF FLARES: The magnetic field of sunspot AR1775 is growing more complex, increasing the chance of an eruption. NOAA forecasters estimate a 20% chance of M-class solar flares on June 19th. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.
FARSIDE ACTIVE REGION: Meanwhile on the farside of the sun, an un-numbered active region is seething with activity, and appears capable of significant eruptions. NASA's STEREO-Behind spacecraft is stationed over the sun's east limb with a good view of the hot spot (circled):
During the early hours of June 18th, a long-duration flare from this active region hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) over the sun's eastern limb. However, none of the rocky planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) were in the line of fire.
In a few days, the sun's rotation will carry the active region around the eastern limb and onto the Earthside of the sun. Then we will have a direct view of the underlying sunspot group and be able to better assess its potential for future flares. Stay tuned. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.
Monitor the farside: You can see an animation of today's flare and monitor the active region in the days ahead by downloading NASA's Interplanetary 3D Sun app. It works on high-end iPhones (4s and 5), iPad 2s, and mini-iPads.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
NOONTIME ECLIPSE: Consider it a solar eclipse ... of Jupiter. On June 19th the sun will pass directly in front of Jupiter, completely eclipsing the giant planet. Coronagraphs onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory are monitoring the convergence:
The CME in the movie was blasted into space by a farside active region described in today's lead news item. Jupiter appears to be in the line of fire, but it is not. The cloud is merely passing in front of the planet; even the CMEs are eclipsing Jupiter today. Updated images of the "eclipse" may be found at the SOHO Realtime Images web page.
SPACE WEATHER BALLOON LAUNCH: On June14th high school students in Bishop, California, launched their seventh "space weather balloon." Its mission: To investigate the effect of solar flares and radiation storms on Earth's ozone layer. The group's mentor, Dr. Tony Phillips, photographed the balloon moments before liftoff from their "Edge of Space Port" in the Sierra Nevada mountains:
The balloon's payload carried two cameras, an ozone sensor, a cryogenic thermometer, and a GPS altimeter to an altitude of 110,000 feet above Earth's surface. All of the payload's core space weather instrumentation was built by the students themselves. After the balloon popped, as planned, the payload parachuted back to Earth, landing near the ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in California's White Mountains. A recovery team has already retrieved the payload, and students are inspecting the data now.
The students launched the balloon on June 14th, a period of low solar activity, because they wanted to compare quiet sun data with a similar data set they collected on May 22nd during a strong solar radiation storm. Stay tuned for their results!
Sponsor a space weather balloon: Would you like to sponsor a flight? The students, who call themselves Earth to Sky Calculus, offer a service for sponsors called "Edge of Space Advertising." During the "ozone flight" on June 14th they flew an ad for Interpret America (flight photo), which paid for the helium in the balloon. The students have also flown banners, cards, cows, running shoes, presidents and other items. If there's something you'd like to fly, please contact Dr. Tony Phillips for rates and details.
Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
[previous years: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011]
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Realtime Comet Photo Gallery