SOLAR
FLARE! Sunspot 1112 erupted today
at 1900 UT, producing the brightest solar flare
in nearly three months. Click
here to view a movie of the M1-class explosion
from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.
GREAT
FILAMENT: A vast filament of magnetism
is cutting across the sun's southern hemisphere
today. Run a finger along the golden-brown line
in this extreme UV image from the Solar Dynamics
Observatory and your digit will have traveled more
than 400,000 km:
A bright 'hot spot' just north of
the filament's midpoint is UV radiation from sunspot
1112. The proximity is no coincidence; the filament
appears to be rooted in the sunspot below. If the
sunspot flares, it could cause the entire structure
to erupt.
UPDATE: Today's M1-flare
did not destabilize the filament. Stay tuned, however,
because sunspot 1112 is growing and more activity
is possible in the hours ahead. Readers with solar
telescopes are encouraged to monitor developments.
more images: from
Eric Roel of Valle de Bravo, México; from
Francois Rouviere of Mougins, France; from
Jo Dahlmans & Wouter Verhesen of Limburg,
The Netherlands; from
John Nassr of Baguio, Philippines; from
Enrico Colzani of Sormano Astronomical Observatory,
Italy; from
Stephen Ramsden of Immaculate Heart of Mary
Catholic School, Atlanta, GA; from
Jean-Pierre Brahic of Uzès, France;
TIME
TO SEE COMET HARTLEY: For backyard
stargazers, the next few nights are the best time
to see green Comet 103P/Hartley 2 as it approaches
Earth for an 11-million-mile close encounter on
Oct. 20th. Set your alarm for the dark hours before
dawn, go outside, and look straight up. You will
find Hartley 2 not far from the bright star Capella:
sky
map. Although the comet is barely visible to
the unaided eye, it is easy to find in binoculars
and looks great through a backyard telescope.
Doug Zubenel sends this picture (Oct. 9) from the
Monument Rocks National Landmark in Kansas:
"To photograph the comet, I used a Canon
Rebel XTi digital camera with an 85mm Nikkor
lens," says Zubenel. "This picture is
a single 2-minute exposure begun with the lens focused
on the rocks, with a quick flash, then focus-shifted
to infinity for the remainder of the time at ISO
800."
NASA scientists say
103P/Hartley 2 is one of the most active comets
they've seen; it has a big atmosphere and copious
outgassing from jets in the nucleus. Amateur astronomers
are encouraged to monitor the action and submit
their images here.
more images: from
Rolando Ligustri using a robotic telescope in
New Mexico; from
Mike Broussard of Maurice, Louisiana; from
Fredrik Broms of Kvaløya, Norway; from
Tamás Ábrahám of Zsámbék, Hungary; from
Efrain Morales Rivera of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico;
from
P-M Hedén of Vallentuna, Sweden; from
Nick Howes using the Faulkes North Telescope
in Hawaii.
October
2010 Aurora Gallery
[previous Octobers: 2009,
2008,
2007,
2006,
2004, 2003,
2002,
2001]
Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids (
PHAs)
are space rocks larger than approximately 100m that can come
closer to Earth than 0.05 AU. None of the known PHAs is on
a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are
finding
new
ones all the time.
On
October 16, 2010 there were 1155 potentially
hazardous asteroids.
Notes: LD means "Lunar
Distance."
1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon.
1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU. MAG is the visual magnitude
of the asteroid on the date of closest approach.
| |
The
official U.S. government space weather bureau |
| |
The
first place to look for information about sundogs,
pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. |
| |
Researchers
call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO is the most
advanced solar observatory ever. |
| |
3D
views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial
Relations Observatory |
| |
Realtime
and archival images of the Sun from SOHO. |
| |
from
the NOAA Space Environment Center |
| |
the
underlying science of space weather |
