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X-37B
FLARE: On May 25th, amateur astronomer Scott
Ferguson witnessed an "X-37B flare." As the US Air
Force space plane glided across the night sky of Bradenton,
Florida, "it
brightened to magnitude -0.8, about twice the brightness
of Arcturis," he reports. Sunlight must be glinting from
a flat surface, perhaps the space plane's solar panels or
the interior of the payload bay. Readers, turn your cell phone
into a space plane tracker
and be alert for flares.
X-37B images: from
Gary of Fort Davis, Texas; from
Val Germann of Jefferson City, Missouri; from
Brent of Orlando, Florida;
WEAK
IMPACT: A coronal mass ejection (CME) hit
Earth's magnetic field during the early hours of May 28th,
but the impact was weak and did not trigger strong geomagnetic
activity. The chances for auroras tonight are subsiding.
RARE
VOLCANIC SMOKE RING: On May 1st, volcano
photographers Steve and Donna O'Meara were stunned when they
photographed a perfectly shaped volcanic smoke ring blown
out by Eyjafjallajokull volcano in southern Iceland:
©Steve & Donna O'Mears, http://VolcanoHeaven.tumblr.com
"This is a rare phenomenon," say Steve
and Donna. "We've only seen it one other time at Italy's
Stromboli
volcano in 2001."
Joseph Licciardi, an earth sciences professor
from Oregon State University, was there to see it, too. "The
ring was visible for five minutes and then fell apart,"
he told the UK Dail Mail. "I am thrilled that I was present
at the event."
In addition to Eyjafjallajokull and Stromboli,
volcanic smoke rings have also been observed at Mt
Etna. Just how the rings form remains a mystery. It's
possible that bursts of gas through narrow vents would do
the job, much like cigar or cigarette smokers blow rings with
their mouths.
Smoke rings could soon become more common over
Iceland. Eruptions of Eyjafjallajokull are usually followed
by even bigger eruptions from the nearby Katla volcano. Indeed,
experts are warning that an eruption of Katla may be close
at hand. Check the
odds!
FULL
FLOWER MOON: According to folklore, last
night's full Moon was the "Flower Moon." It gets
its name from the spring flowers which are abundant in the
month of May. Consider these moonlit daisies in Wintersville,
Ohio:
"I took the picture in my backyard using
a Canon 50D," says Don Roberts. "The Flower Moon
was so bright, the sky actually looked blue in this 21 second
exposure."
more Flower Moonshots: from
Stefano De Rosa of Turin, Italy; from
Nel Ton of Serooskerke, The Netherlands; from
Doug Zubenel of Lenexa, Kansas; from
Konstantinos Christodoulopoulos of Kineta, Greece; from
Miguel Claro of Sesimbra, Portugal; from
Tony Wilder of Chippewa Falls, WI; from
Marc Provencher of Portland, OR; from
Catalin Ionescu of Sapanta, Romania; from
Tamás Ábrahám of Zsámbék, Hungary;
May
2010 Aurora Gallery
[previous Mays: 2008,
2005, 2004,
2003, 2002]
[aurora alerts]
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