They came from outer space--and you can have one! Genuine meteorites are now on sale in the Space Weather Store. | | |
QUIET SUN: Solar activity is low with a slight chance for an M-class flare on July 29th. The source of any flare would likely be sunspot AR1800 on the sun's southwestern limb. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.
SOUTHERN DELTA AQUARIID METEOR SHOWER: Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Comet 96P/Machholz, source of the annual Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower. Forecasers expect 15 to 20 meteors per hour to streak out of the constellation Aquarius on July 29-30 when the shower peaks. The best time to look is during the hours between midnight and sunrise.
Although the shower favors the southern hemisphere, it is possible to see Southern Delta Aquariids from the north, too. David Hoffmann caught this early arrival over Ashland, Oregon, on July 27th:
"I love watching meteors; they appear without warning and then are gone in a flash," says Hoffman. "Occasionally though, one will hang on a bit longer in that canopy of forever."
Got clouds? Try listening to the Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower on Space Weather Radio. The audio stream is playing radar echoes from the USAF Space Surveillance Radar in Kickapoo, Texas. Overpassing meteors and satellites can make loud pings.
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NACREOUS CLOUDS OVER TIERRA DEL FUEGO: On July 24th, about an hour after sunset, Gerardo Connon of Rio Grande city in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, walked outside and witnessed a rare display of nacreous clouds. The colorful apparition was as bright as the street lights in the city below:
These clouds, also known as "mother of pearl clouds," form in the stratosphere far above the usual realm of weather. They are seldom seen, but when they are, the reports usually come from high-northern parts of our planet. This apparition over Tierra del Fuego was unusual indeed.
Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley explains the special conditions required to create such a cloud: "Take an unusually cold lower stratosphere (15-25km high), use some gravity waves generated by high winds and storms in the troposphere to stir in some water vapour, and -- voilĂ ! You get these clouds made of tiny ice crystals shining after sunset with unforgettably bright iridescent colors."
"The very special conditions make nacreous clouds a rare, high-latitude phenomenon. Scandinavia, Iceland and northern Canada are favourite places to see them. Sightings in the southern hemisphere are even more rare because there is so little land far enough south except for Antarctica."
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