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INCOMING ASTEROID:
A small, newly-discovered asteroid named
2008
TC3 is approaching Earth and chances are better than 99.8% that
it will hit. Steve Chesley of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory estimates
that atmospheric entry will occur on Oct 7th at 0246 UTC over northern
Sudan to the Red Sea. Measuring only a few meters across, the space
rock poses no threat to people or structures on
the ground, but it should create a spectacular fireball, releasing
about a kiloton of TNT in energy as it disintegrates and explodes
in the atmosphere. Asteroids of this size hit Earth every few months,
but this is the first time one has been discovered before it hit.
[ephemeris]
[3D
orbit]
GREEN RAIN:
Saturday night, Oct. 4th, in Russia's Kolyskia
peninsula, storm clouds gathered over Mt. Khibiny and the rain
began to fall. Lo and behold, it was green:
Northern Lights posing as rain are a common occurance in this arctic
part of Russia, where photographer Aleksander
Chernucho keeps his Nikon
D200 close at hand for midnight photo-ops. On this night, the
clouds pulled back revealing a bank of auroras so bright they turned
the harbor waters as green as the sky: photo.
"Good storm!"
Earth is exiting the solar wind stream that caused the display,
but another stream is on the way. Sky watchers around the Arctic
Circle should be alert
for auroras when it arrives on Oct. 8th or 9th.
Oct.
2008 Aurora Gallery
[Previous Octobers: 2007,
2006, 2004,
2003, 2002,
2001,
2000]
ON THE ROAD AGAIN:
After spending a year inside Victoria Crater,
Mars rover Opportunity has climbed out and resumed its travels across
the red planet. Put on your 3D
glasses and enjoy this view of one small crater near the rim
of receding Victoria:
Click to view the complete
panorama
Graphic artist Patrick Vantuyne created the anaglyph by combining
right- and left-eye images from Opportunity's stereo camera. The
complete panorama, showing the entirety of Victoria crater in the
background, is a must-see.
Next stop: Endeavor, a 14-mile wide crater some 20 times larger
than Victoria. To get there, Opportunity will have to drive seven
miles, matching the total distance it has traveled since landing
on Mars in early 2004. The journey could take two years. "We
may not make it, but scientifically speaking that's the right direction
to go," says Steve Squyres of Cornell University. "Endeavour
is staggeringly large compared to anything we've seen before."
Squyres and colleagues hope that peering into the depths of Endeavour
will yield new secrets from Mars' wet and wild past--and, oh, the
3D!
Oct.
2008 Aurora Gallery
[Previous Octobers: 2007,
2006, 2004,
2003, 2002,
2001,
2000]
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