Where's Saturn? Is that a UFO--or the ISS? What's the name of that star? Get the answers from mySKY--a fun new astronomy helper from Meade. . DAWN LIFTS OFF: NASA's Dawn spacecraft lifted off from Kennedy Space Center this morning on a mission to explore giant asteroids Ceres and Vesta. The spacecraft has signaled NASA's Deep Space Network--a good sign!--and ground controllers are assessing Dawn's condition now: updates. HARVEST MOON: When the Harvest Moon rose over Falmouth, Maine, last night, onlookers were amazed. "It was intensely orange, like a great big pumpkin," says John Stetson who helped local students C. LaCroix and C. Miller snap this picture: What caused the color? Rayleigh scattering: Tiny bits of dust, ash, pollutants and even air molecules themselves scatter blue light while leaving red mostly untouched. The silvery moon thus loses its blue and gains a golden hue. (Sunsets are golden for the same reason.) Low-hanging moons tend to be extra-colorful because "low" is where most of the scatterers are. more images: from Bernie Makepeace of Comox Valley, British Columbia; from Sheri Barrington of Weymouth, Dorset, UK; from Yuichi Takasaka of Lumby, British Columbia; from Jayme Hanzak of Hillsborough, North Carolina; from Jeffrey Berkes of West Chester, Pennsylvania; from Joshua Mendez of Boston, Mass.; from P-M Hedén of Vallentuna, Sweden; from Tunç Tezel of Bolu, Turkey; WINDOW SEAT: Sylvain Chapeland was flying from Los Angeles to London on Sept. 24th when "a great show erupted over Greenland. The auroras were really nice even through the airplane window." (continued below) Photo details: Canon EOS 350D, ISO 1600, 10s. More: #1, #2, #3 The display was fueled by a high-speed solar wind stream that hit Earth on Sept. 21st, sparking polar auroras for three nghts in a row--including the night of Chapeland's flight. Get ready for more: Another stream is en route from the sun, due to arrive on Sept. 27th or 28th. Incidentally, Chapland may have pioneered a new method of aurora watching: Book a transcontinental polar night flight when geomagnetic storms are in the offing. Just don't forget the window seat! September 2007 Aurora Gallery [August 2007 Aurora Gallery] [Aurora Alerts] |