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MOONBOW CHALLENGE:
Experts once thought that moonbows--that
is, rainbows formed in moonlight--were only visible around the time
of a bright full Moon. "Amateur astronomer Martin McKenna has
just broken that rule
by photographing a moonbow only 7 days before the new moon,"
announces atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley. "The challenge
now is to image one even closer to a new moon." Readers, can
you do it? "Who knows," says Cowley, "I might even
offer a prize of an umbrella!" Submit your images here.
STUNNING SKY SHOW:
When the sun goes down tonight, step outside
and look south. Beaming through the twilight is one of the prettiest
things you'll ever see--a tight three-way conjunction of Venus,
Jupiter and the crescent Moon: sky
map.
Photographer Ehsan Sanaei Ardakani sends this picture taken just
hours ago from Ardakan, Iran:
"It was one the most spectacular conjunctions ever,"
he says "I took the picture using a Nikon
D70s set at 200 ASA for 20s."
more images: from
Becky Ramotowski of Tijeras, New Mexico; from
Ramiz Qureshi of Karachi, Pakistan; from
Mustafa Erol of Antalya, Turkey; from
Hossein Haeri-Ardakani of Ardakan, Yazd, Iran; from
Milan Gucic of Belgrade, Serbia; from
Premjith Narayanan of the Kingdom of Bahrain; from
Mike Salway of Central Coast, NSW Australia; from
Sigurd Lasa of Cebu, Philippines; from
Kim Cheol-Joong of Chuncheon, Gangwon-do, South Korea; from
David Maidment of Sohar, Oman; from
Mania Rahban of Kerman, Iran; from
Trevor Ward of Perth Western Australia; from
Cindy Safina of Tsimshatsui, Hong Kong; from
Raghu Kalra of New Delhi; from
Shahrin of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; from
Tunç Tezel of Denizli, Turkey; from
Paul Haese of Blackwood, South Australia; from
Chunkin Man of Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong; from
Nigel Dudley of Oakford, Western Australia; from
James Kevin Ty of Manila, the Philippines; from
Simon Chan of Perth, Western Australia; from
David Hough of Warners Bay NSW Australia; from
Dennis Mammana of Borrego Springs, California; from
Luc Bellavance of Rimouski, Quebec; from
Stephen O'Meara of Volcano, Hawaii;
AURORA WATCH:
Last night in far-northern Nunavik, Quebec, the clouds parted to
reveal a green and purple ribbon of light winding among the stars.
Sylvain Serre grabbed his Canon
30D and snapped this picture:
Photo details:
Canon EOS 30D, 10mm, f/3.5, ISO 800, 20 sec
"November has been a good month for auroras," says Serre.
"We've had five clear nights and I saw the Northern Lights
every time." Serre's home in far-northern Quebec lies under
Earth's auroral
oval, a glowing ring around the North Pole where auroras are
almost constantly active. Last night's display was encouraged by
a
crack in Earth's magnetosphere briefly opening and allowing
solar wind to pour in. It was a minor display by the standards of
Nunavik--"not very beautiful," deadpans Serre, "but
we enjoyed it anyway."
A better show is in the offing. A solar wind stream is heading
for Earth and it could spark geomagnetic storms when it arrives
on Dec. 3rd or 4th. High-latitude sky watchers
should be alert for auroras.
Nov.
2008 Aurora Gallery
[Previous Novembers: 2007,
2006, 2004,
2003, 2001,
2000]
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